Canal27ways

Category: children’s services

  • September Executive Meeting

    September Executive Meeting

    If you’re looking for a window into decision making at Trafford Council, the Executive Meeting of the council is the best place to start.

    Whilst meetings of full council in the Town Hall chamber are designed for performative political bun fights, the meeting of the Executive at least ostensibly focuses on officer written reports requiring approval.

    I thought I’d write this piece as my previous post was on the single issue of the coming expiry of Sale Waterside’s PFI contract. That is but one of the agenda items at a busy first Executive meeting following the summer recess, and it’s certainly not the only matter of interest.

    So, other than the Waterside PFI, what’s on the agenda?

    Greater Manchester End to End Fostering Recruitment Hub

    Fostering is a critical element of Trafford’s children’s services. It was hard not to pick up this was also an area to which a lot of feedback was negative in terms of the reaction to Trafford’s inadequate rating.

    This report seeks Executive approval in principle for Trafford Council to participate in the Greater Manchester End-to-End Fostering Hub, which will expand the existing regional fostering recruitment hub into a service responsible for recruitment, assessment and approval of mainstream foster carers across Greater Manchester.

    The proposed model would transfer some fostering recruitment, assessment and approval functions to the Hub, whilst Trafford would retain responsibility for foster carer support and supervision, annual reviews, kinship fostering assessments and its wider statutory duties in relation to children in its care.

    Thoughts

    On the face of it, the project seems sensible. I would have liked formal input from the Trafford Foster Care Association. The report mentions that they’ve been briefed, but doesn’t provide any input from them. Given Ofsted’s judgement of Trafford’s provision as inadequate, it’s not reassuring for the report not to include user feedback.

    Corporate Plan Performance 25/26

    The council measures its performance against key indicators. These should really chart progress towards the Council Vision. I’m not a huge fan of corporate visions in general. Tom Ross and I took opposing positions on Trafford’s corporate vision.

    My view on the Trafford Vision

    If we cancelled every training session on corporate visions, it would be the easiest win on productivity we’re ever likely to make.

    Tom’s View

    Trafford – where all our residents, communities and businesses thrive

    I guess I was never a natural manager. I knew what a good piece of work was and it never seemed to need input from a corporate vision to enhance it.

    I’m being flippant, and even if Trafford’s seems vague and unobtainable, I’d still rather have it than Kellogg’s vision.

    A good and just world where people are not just fed but fulfilled.

    That’s Rice Krispies, right?

    I digress

    Back to Trafford, and I’m sure there’ll be some challenge from opposition parties on performance indicators in the red (below).

    • 16/17 Neet %
    • EHCP completion
    • Children referred for 2nd time Protection
    • Family Help re-referral rates
    • Early Years Attainment Gap
    • Improved conversion rate for Adults Safeguarding
    • Proportion of people using social care direct payments
    • Household Waste collected for Composting
    • Proportion of journeys undertaken by bike or on foot
    • Library loans
    • Staff sickness

    Link to Full report

    I always think these reports should be an opportunity to take a broad look across the council. For instance, it would be really useful for the executive not just to take stock of performance indicators, but things like staff morale and staff retention. Data is routinely collected and reported on within the NHS, but they rarely get beyond Employment committee in Trafford.

    Budget Monitoring

    Given that Trafford required a capitalisation directive from the Government to allow it borrow up to £12.6m to support the revenue budget it’s vital that a close eye is kept on spending this year.

    As it stands, Trafford is projected to overspend by £2.78m. It’s not untypical for this to be the case in September. They’ll want to keep an eye on it but it’s not the time for panic.

    Co-incidentally, Trafford has be awarded £7.5m by the Ministry of housing, community and local government (MHCLG) this week as part of a package to those councils who’ve had to apply for special arrangements to balance the budget. Ostensibly, it’s for efficiencies.

    In Trafford using better technology, including AI, to make services smarter and easier for residents. This includes moving to a modern, more reliable computer system that brings all the council’s information together in one place, so different teams can work together more easily and give people better support when they need it, such as when applying for services or reporting an issue.

    Trafford and IT systems is an interesting subject. I’ll believe in the modern AI powered modern computer system when I see it.

    Budget Monitoring Report

    Sustainable Transport & Environment Board

    This is a new committee. It’s long overdue. Trafford has never taken public transport seriously whilst council’s like Stockport and Bolton have seen it as absolutely key to prosperity.

    Trafford Park Business Improvement District

    Business Improvement Districts can be very successful if businesses in an area have shared vision for improving things within its boundary. They tend to work around town centres, but having one in Trafford Park would be really interesting if it got going. The idea’s been around for over a decade but maybe the time is right for it to proceed.

    Trafford Park Business Improvement District

    Elected Members Social Media Guide

    I thought councillors already had a social media guide. In any event, they’ve got one now.

    Link to Social Media Guide

    It’s perhaps a good moment to flag that I’ve been blocked by Trafford’s Conservatives on Facebook. I’m guessing this was for pointing out they were just wrong on council tax rises.

    They shouldn’t be blocking people for that if that’s why they’ve done it. It suggests they want to deliberately misinform. I rarely comment on Conservative posts unless they’ve put something that’s verifiably untrue, as in this case, or more pertinently, I agree with them.

    I think in twenty years, I’ve only blocked one person and I’ve only deleted when not to do so could get me into legal hot water.

    That said, even if it hasn’t happened to me, social media can be difficult and it can get out of hand.

    I still wouldn’t turn the clock back on it though. It’s still an incredibly useful way to engage.

    Other items

    There’s a couple of items that have been brought about by changes to national rules

    Renters’ Rights

    Planning Committee Reform – making more applications for officer determination. Losing the ability to call-in applications. You are going to see less applications going to committee. The council does not have a choice in this.

    What’s not coming to Executive committee

    I’m really shocked that the two critical inspections are not on this agenda. Whilst issues are already being dealt with, I would still expect the Executive to receive a formal report of the process.

    Executive Committee Behaviour

    Since Executive meetings are chaired by the Leader of the council they can be just as performative as the main council. We saw this last year that the meetings can be subject to the lowest of stunts, when opposition parties were subjected to having to deliver serious questions from a wobbly kitchen table. I’m just an ordinary resident now. I don’t want to see childish shenanigans from the leadership.

    I’d love your feedback

    I do this because I enjoy it, but that doesn’t mean I’m only interested in my point of view.

    Please tell me I’m right, tell me I’m wrong.

    Oh and don’t forget you can subscribe to an email whenever I post.

  • Never goin’ to smell the bran again…

    Never goin’ to smell the bran again…

    Sad to see Kellogg’s shut down its ovens for the last time. The last bake at Trafford Park seems to have taken place without ceremony.

    The big ‘K’ has been a visual marker on the skyline for as long as I can remember. Yet it’s the sounds and smells I’m most in tune with. I live within earshot of the Kellogg’s empty trailers bouncing over the humps at the warehouse and downwind of the malty scents blowing over our neighbourhood. I don’t think I’ve come to terms with the fact that its end is nigh.

    What comes next? I don’t think it’ll be residential. We’ll just have to see. Slightly worrying, but we’ll have to wait and see.

    Manchester United (Wharfside) Consultation

    Kellogg’s sits outside the consultation area, but not that far outside. Trafford is continuing its consultation on development of the eastern part of Trafford Park centred on the relocation of the Manchester United stadium and there’s some events planned for the next few weeks.

    Manchester United is renowned for the care and consideration it gives to its fans. Trafford is renowned for its integrity in consulting residents. What can go wrong?

    Coming Dates of consultation drop-ins

    Ruth Hannan from Gorgeous Gorse Hill has helpfully put together questions she wants answering from the Gorse Hill community point of view. These may trigger your own questions.

    I definitely would like to seek assurance that both new and existing permit schemes would be fully financed by Manchester United.

    Consultation Documents
    Ruth’s Response

    Continuing Fallout from Trafford’s Children’s Services Report

    The opposition parties in Trafford continue to use social media to exert pressure on Tom Ross and his Labour Group over the critical report.

    They’re being premature. The users of the service deserve an authoritative explanation of how the deterioration occurred before the blame is apportioned. The Corporate Director of Children’s Services seemed to suggest at Scrutiny that the data was being reported. Surely, this needs investigating and we need to understand the role of the Chief Executive.

    Labour has been understandably quiet. They’re in the firing line. However, they need to be held to their promise for:

    “independent review of why the deterioration in the front-door service was not identified and remedied sooner, including examination of what information was available to senior officers and elected members, what warnings were escalated, what assurance was provided and whether scrutiny arrangements were sufficiently robust.“

    I would have the thought that the conclusion of this report was the right moment to look at appropriate changes of personnel including the political.

    Coming up at Council

    The Sale Waterside PFI agreement is the subject of the next Council executive meeting on the 21st September. I would have thought this was quite an important issue for Sale Town Centre, given how important the canalside is to Sale. We’re probably going to be excluded from the tasty stuff as it’s likely the public will be excluded.

    Also on the coming Agenda:

    • A supplier for Trafford’s EV charging infrastructure
    • End to End Fostering Hub

    Total Ninja – Trafford Park

    Watersmeet Litterpick

    Trafford Lib Dem Campaign for Transparency over Potholes

    I’m not a Lib Dem but I think they make a good point about Trafford’s attitude to potholes. And there is clearly need for transparency.

    Their petition is here. Fix our roads – Trafford Liberal Democrats

    I’ve not signed it. I suspect it’s mainly for harvesting contacts but I would really like to if they used something like Change.org.

  • Extraordinary Council Meeting

    Extraordinary Council Meeting

    This was the meeting calling for resignations and self condemnation of pretty much everybody

    I previewed the meeting last week.

    The clash came to pass last night in the council chamber. Labour won. They had the votes.

    Most of the speakers were attacking Labour and a picture was painted of a Council Executive who were inward looking and lacking in curiosity.

    That narrative didn’t meet much challenge.

    My regret is that I’m still not actually sure how Trafford’s Executive were unaware that the issues highlighted in Ofsted’s opening paragraph had come about. I was hoping Children’s scrutiny the previous evening would have extracted something approaching a definitive answer. It would require some ‘first principle’ questioning.

    • How the ‘front door’ is monitored,
    • how failings would come to light,
    • how they are reported up the line

    All we have is the Ofsted verdict

    Since the previous inspection in 2022, when services in Trafford were judged as requires improvement to be good, leaders have been ineffective in recognising, prioritising and making improvements to some service shortfalls. Practice with children in care and for some care-experienced young people has improved, but there has been a serious deterioration in service areas, such as front door response.
    This has left some children at risk of harm.

    Leadership Culture

    I don’t think we’ll ever get a comprehensive answer to whether the culture set by Trafford’s political leadership played a part.

    The members of the Executive very much set themselves apart from the wider body of councillors. They don’t ask questions of wider councillors. They may have friendship groups to confide in, but it doesn’t seem to be a core value to be interested in the ward councillor’s perspective. This being the case, it hardly seems incongruous if there has been a lack of curiosity in terms of performance.

    There seems to be a culture of mutual comforting and reassurance amongst the cabinet. Consensus is reinforced. It would cause gross offense to demur.

    It is literally true that executive members challenging the consensus is now always in the past tense.

    This bias towards consensus permeates the council’s values

    I’ve never been a huge fan of Trafford’s ‘People Plan‘. Its EPIC Values have always seemed a little passively introverted to me, I’d like them to be more challenging, more focused on improvement.

    EPIC Values

    I almost think we hard-wired this failing into the culture. Still doesn’t explain everything, but I suggest that there are issues still to be solved beyond a simple change of personnel.

    The council meeting was interesting, we did get to hear the occasional line that set my alarms ringing;

    • “We’ve already dealt with”,
    • “Changes are in progress”,
    • “We’re going to be open, we don’t need to have a formal arrangement”

    We’ll have to see whether the Executive changes. I think one interesting consensus, certainly across the opposition parties, but I think into Labour backbenches was dissatisfaction with the scrutiny function. I hope that will be picked up.

    Link to Archived Video of the Proceedings on Youtube

    Overall, I think it was a worthwhile meeting. I don’t think resignations at this stage are a good idea, so I was happy with the way the votes went. It would be nice to think they take a broad view to some of the system failures that have taken place in my view, rather than the fault of a few individuals. And I’d really like the leaders to look in the mirror, have their behaviours contributed?