The Way We Care

Across the country, we are seeing more children in care (and spending more time in care) and much greater reliance on residential care as foster care numbers plateau. The end result is that many care placements are costly, not tailored to children’s needs and all too often a long distance from home.

These were some of the findings of ‘The Way We Care’, a report by specialist consultants IMPOWER and commissioned by the County Councils Network (CCN). It was launched yesterday morning at the CCN Annual Conference. I chaired the launch as CCN spokesperson on children’s services; in that role, I was involved in the development of the report, including chairing an advisory group that helped shape it. 

The report identifies the need to reduce the number of children, interim care, lead to increase those safely, leaving it. This builds on the work of Josh McAlister’s Independent Review of Children’s Social Care, which has been official government policy for sometime, but which needs to be funded adequately to be delivered. 

However, the report also highlights the need to address the severe challenges of commissioning and provisioning of placements, including the impact of registration and regulation, the pricing regime, and the need for a more long-term, strategic approach to commissioning. 

This is an important piece of work; the government has indicated its openness to reform in its statements attached to the recent budget, and this now needs to be given substance. I found it particularly valuable to cheer the advisory group, whose members had enormous experience and expertise, and two of its members – Nick Barnett of the Caldicot foundation, and Brenda Farrell of Barnardos - took part in the launch yesterday morning. 

Children’s placements are one of the areas that threaten the financial stability of local government; the issue needs to be addressed for that reason, but above all to ensure much better service and better outcomes for the children who come into our care. 

You can find CCN’s media release, and a link to the report here.

 

Friendship with Chernihiv

I returned a week ago from a visit to the Chernihiv region of Ukraine. The starting point for this was the County Council’s decision in July to establish a programme of co-operation between Kent and Chernihiv. Following the Council resolution, I was invited by the Regional Administration in Chernihiv to visit to sign the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the regions and to investigate a number of areas of cooperation.

I traveled with Jordan Meade, County Councillor for Gravesend East and Deputy Cabinet Member for Communities, who has worked closely with his local community to build links and supply humanitarian assistance to Ukraine, and in particular to Chernihiv. 

The County Council resolution was clear that KCC’s role in this is a coordinating one, and that as something that is not core County Council activity this cannot be a call on Council resources in any material way. In that spirit, Jordan and I traveled at our own expense. 

Chernihiv region is to the north-east of Kyiv, and borders both Russia and Belarus. (The city itself is about 60 miles from the Russian border and somewhat closer to the Belarusian border). In the early weeks of the war, the region was invaded and the city encircled, though Russian forces were then repelled. The region remains subject to attacks and air alerts. 

We spent an intensive three days with the Regional Administration, led by the Governor Vyacheslav Chaus. Our visit covered areas such as health (the city’s cardiology unit was bombed during the attacks), school and university education, cultural institutions, the business community and emergency services. We also visited the village of Yahidne, which was the site of horrific abuses when occupied by Russian soldiers, with many villagers held in cramped conditions in a school basement for weeks, as well as a children’s library that was devastated by a missile attack.

The County Council resolution identified a number of priority areas in which the Council could facilitate (but not deliver directly) links between the regions: humanitarian support; economic development and business; heritage, tourism, sport, health and the natural environment; education, skills and language. Through our visit, we established connections to take these areas forward.

And some overall impressions? It was, as I reported to Council last week, an intense and unforgettable experience. One striking feature was the apparent normality of much day to day life - and what it takes to sustain this under war conditions (schools can deliver in person learning, but have bomb shelters to sustain that; people learn to live with an assess the risks of an attack). That normality, and some hope for the future are vital to sustaining the morale of a population that has now had to live with two and a half years of devastating war. Anything our co-operation agreement can do to help that seems to me to be very worthwhile.

You can find a KCC media release on the visit here.

Remembrance in Horton Kirby

 

With a large number of parishes in my Division, it makes sense to attend a different one for Remembrance Sunday service each year. Last year it was Kemsing, Crockenhill before that, Otford in 2021 (and going back further, Eynsford). This morning it was a fine service at St Mary’s Horton Kirby this morning. 100 names read out who fell serving this country. I was proud to join this and lay a wreath on behalf of KCC

Swanley Village Road: cleansing the culvert

I wrote in the recent Swanley Village newsletter than the long-awaited works on the culvert in Swanley Village Road were due to take place on Wednesday (6 November).

When it appeared that this had not been completed, I followed up with KCC officers. It appears that the screen was cleared, and the gullies cleansed and jetted. However, the contractors did not jet the culvert itself, apparently because they did not have what they believed to be the correct vehicle to carry out the work safely. KCC required that they return with the appropriate vehicle, and it appears that there was a revisit yesterday and the works were completed.