Children And Families Services Committee - 08/03/2021

At a MEETING of the CHILDREN AND FAMILIES SERVICES COMMITTEE held remotely on 8th March, 2021.

Present:-

Lord Provost Ian BORTHWICK

BAILIES

COUNCILLORS

External members for Articles I and II

Ms M LECK, Roman Catholic Church Representative

Ms J BARCLAY, Teacher Representative

Mr D BAXTER, Teacher Representative

Miss F ISHAQ, Pupil Representative

Councillor Stewart HUNTER, Convener, in the Chair.

The minute of meeting of this Committee of 25th January, 2021 was held as read.

Unless marked thus * all items stand delegated.

I DECLARATION OF INTEREST

There were no declarations of interest.

II RETAINING RESERVED PLACES IN SCHOOLS FROM 2021/2022

On a reference to Article V of the minute of meeting of the Education Committee of 19th February, 2001, there was submitted Report No 91-2021 by the Executive Director of Children and Families Service reporting the requirement to review the allocation of reserved places on an annual basis and proposing the allocation for session 2021/2022.

The Committee:-

(i) noted the content of the report;

(ii) approved the proposals for the allocation of reserved places in schools for the school session 2021/2022 as outlined in Appendix 1 of the report; and

(iii) noted the existing criteria for admission to school (Extract from Placing Request Guidelines) as outlined in Appendix 2 of the report.

At this juncture, external members of the Committee departed.

III DUNDEE CHILD PROTECTION COMMITTEE ANNUAL REPORT 2020

There was submitted Report No 92-2021 by the Executive Director of Children and Families Service presenting the Committee with the Dundee Child Protection Committee Annual Report 2020.

The Committee:-

(i) noted the content of the report and the annual report (attached as Appendix 1 to the report), including key achievements and challenges over the period April, 2019 to July, 2020;

(ii) noted the progress that had been made in developing an effective partnership response to Child Protection issues in the city as outlined in section 4.4 of the report; and

(iii) noted the development of the Child Protection Delivery Plan for the current year 2020/2021 (contained within Appendix 1).

IV OUR PROMISE TO CARE EXPERIENCED CHILDREN AND YOUNG PEOPLE 2021/2023

On a reference to Article V of the minute of meeting of this Committee of 26th October, 2020, there was submitted Report No 93-2021 seeking approval of the Council response to the findings of the Independent Care Review published in February, 2020. The response had been developed with a range of national and local partners and care experienced children and young people to extend and improve developments progressed over the last three years through the Corporate Parenting Plan 2017/2020. The report outlined a new range of actions organised under the five foundations of the Independent Care Reviews The Promise, in the form of Our Promise to Care Experienced Children and Young People 2021/2023. Collectively, these actions were designed to substantially improve engagement with, support to and outcomes for children and young people on the edges of care and with current alternative care arrangements.

The Committee:-

(i) noted the content of the report;

(ii) approved Our Promise to Care Experienced Children and Young People 2021/2023 (attached as Appendix A to the report); and

(iii) instructed the Executive Director of Children and Families to provide an update on progress in 12 months.

Stewart HUNTER, Convener.