Agenda item

Cabinet Member – Councillor Dilwyn Morgan

To consider a report on the above  (attached).

          An update was submitted on the North Wales Adoption Service. Members were reminded of the work done by Local Authorities in North Wales to work in partnership to create a regional service, by pooling resources and acting efficiently when placing children. The Service became operational in April 2010, and the National Adoption Service was established five years later. Reference was made to the Annual Report (2018 - 2019) of the National Adoption Service, which was appended to the report.

          It was explained that Wrexham Borough County Council was the Host Authority for the Service and that the staff, since 2010, had been seconded to the Service but continued to work within their original authorities. The fact that the performance of all Welsh regions was collated by the National Adoption Service was highlighted, and that four main achievements had been identified for North Wales in 2018 - 2019:

·         The appointment of a Contact Co-ordination Officer who offered consistent responses and support to adoptive and biological parents in terms of direct and non-direct contact.

·         Worked with the specialist, Richard Rose, to implement the Life History Framework.

·         Extended the Buddy Scheme for Adopters.

·         Invested in increasing the Training Officer's skills

Following a review of the Service in 2017-2019, insufficient capacity on an operational and strategic level to manage and develop the service was identified, and therefore the structure was remodelled by moving over to a Service which was managed fully by Wrexham Council. It was noted that all current staff would transfer into Wrexham Council's employment in 2020, but would continue to work from their current local authorities. It was reported that additional funding was available on a national level for the development of adoption support services along with National Lottery funding for a TESSA Service.

During the discussion, the following observations were made by Members:-

·         That many of the Service's work streams were dependent on grants or additional funding, and that this created concern as a result of having to depend on grants. There was a need to consider plans for reserve funding.

·         There was a risk that schemes could be withdrawn due to a lack of budget

·         Should Gwynedd Council consider the option of buying a house in order to keep children from the same family together?

·         There was a need for better marketing of the Service as well as improving communication methods

In response to an observation regarding permanent budgets, the Cabinet Member noted his desire to ensure that open discussions were being held when any successful and effective grant funded scheme continued.

In response to an observation that the data submitted with the report highlighted that Gwynedd appeared very low in terms of enquiry numbers, the number of adopters available, children placed in 2018 and the number waiting for placements, it was noted that there were no particular reasons for the low levels. It was acknowledged that there was a need to ensure that people received the correct information and that there was a need for better marketing of the service and to erase the historic perception of requirements for adopting. It was added that there was a way to discuss and collaborate through any situation.

In response to a question as to whether the children who were fostered moved on to be adopted by the same family, it was noted that there were successful examples to be had, but that consideration of the child's true needs was the priority. It was noted that no child was placed with the intention of being moved on to adoption.

It was noted that there were insufficient adoption providers for children and that the number of families / enquiries displayed a lower trend than usual. However, this was not unique to North Wales and, as a result, the matter was being addressed on a national level.

RESOLVED to accept the report, and a request was made for an update in 12 months' time