Decision details

The Group Director, Community and Children’s Services shared with the Cabinet the Regional Adoption Collaboration’s Annual Report for 2019-20.

The Group Director advised that RCT formed part of the Vale, Valleys and Cardiff Adoption Collaborative (VVC), the largest of the five regional collaboratives, which form part of the National Adoption Service in Wales (NAS).

The Group Director informed the Cabinet that the report had been subject to scrutiny by both the Council’s Corporate Parenting Board and the Children and Young People Scrutiny Committee.

During the 2019-20 Municipal Year, Members learned that the demand for adopters had reduced slightly in RCT, but this was likely linked to the focussed work undertaken to reduce the number of Children Looked After more generally.

The Group Director advised that the key priority of the collaboration was to increase its supply of adopters and stressed the importance of recruitment work. During the period, there was a 35% increase in adopters, which was positive but the Group Director advised that further work was required to increase the numbers. Overall, the Group Director was of the view that the report highlighted a positive picture and the benefits of the collaborative approach.

The Cabinet Member for Children’s Services thanked the Group Director for the positive report. The Cabinet Member spoke of the improvement made to Life Journey Work, which had increased from 44% to 60, but noted that there was still some way to go to achieve the target of 84%.

The Cabinet Member went on to speak of the significant work carried out to increase adopters in the Region, which had led to a 35% rise. The Cabinet Member was pleased to note the progress, but acknowledged that further work needed to be undertaken to increase numbers, particularly following the pressures of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Leader echoed the Cabinet Member’s comments and took the opportunity to thank staff for driving forward the recruitment of adopters year on year. The Leader spoke of the decrease in referrals to the Children Looked After service during the pandemic and acknowledged that as children begin to return to school, the referrals could increase again. The Leader advised that discussions were taking place with Welsh Government in respect of additional support for Local Authorities to accommodate any additional pressures as normality is restored.

The Cabinet RESOLVED:

1.    To note the contents of the report