(i)         that the Children Looked After Placements:  Sufficiency Statement and Action Plan 2018-2020 be approved; and

(ii)        that the Children Looked After Placements:  Sufficiency Statement and Action Plan be reviewed annually by the Policy Development and Decision Group (Joint Commissioning Team) and at least quarterly by the Corporate Parenting Panel and the Children’s Improvement Board.

The revised Sufficiency Statement and Action Plan have been developed in order that the Council meets its Sufficiency Duty and will be subject to regular review to ensure it is delivering its aims and objectives.

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This decision will come into force and may be implemented on 15 June 2018 unless the call-in procedure is triggered (as set out in Standing Orders in relation to Overview and Scrutiny).

Historically, Torbay Council has had a higher population of children looked after than national and statistical comparators.  This reflects a low-risk/high-cost strategy put in place in response to the inadequate inspection outcome in 2011 and weaknesses in our permanence planning. 

During 2017, the Council revised its permanence strategy and this is beginning to evidence positive outcomes for children and young people in terms of adoption, special guardianship and foster to adopt. 

Alongside this a revised Sufficiency Statement and Action Plan sets out a range of actions to ensure there is sufficient high quality accessible provision for Torbay children and young people to ensure that when a child requires to be accommodated we can identify a placement that is suitable to their needs.  It should be noted that this is against a very challenging operational environment with a lack of placement capacity as a national issue rather than one unique to Torbay or the South West region.

The Elected Mayor considered the recommendations of the Policy Development and Decision Group (Joint Commissioning Team) made on 4 June 2018 and his decision is set out above.

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