Looked After Children Placements and
Resource Sufficiency Strategy
2015 to 2018
Martin Trim, Lynne Adams and Vince Clark
Children and Young People's Services
London Borough of Hillingdon
Table of Content
Page 1 of 31
Section
1. Introduction and Background Information
1.1. Introduction
1.2. London Borough of Hillingdon Profile
1.3. Mechanisms for commissioning placements in Hillingdon
1.4. The West London Alliance
2. Looked After Children in Hillingdon
2.1. Looked After Children Profile
3. Principles and Vision of the Strategy
3.1. Vision for Placements in Hillingdon
3.2. Objectives
3.3. Consultation and Service User Feedback
4. Fostering
4.1. Fostering Placement Profile
4.2. Hillingdon’s Fostering Service
4.3. Historic External Spend/Placements
4.4. Location of External Placements
4.5. West London IFA Framework
4.6. West London Care Place
4.7. Staying Put Placements
5. Residential Children's Homes
5.1. Residential Children’s Homes Placement Profile
5.2. Hillingdon's Residential Children's Homes
5.3. Historic External Spend/Placements
5.4. Location of External Placements
5.5. Independent Residential Home Providers
6. Semi-Independent Provision For Care Leavers
6.1. Semi Independent Placement Profile
6.2. Hillingdon’s Semi Independent Provision
6.3. Hillingdon’s Shared Housing Provision
6.4. Historic External Spend/Placements
6.5. Location of External Placements
6.6. Alternative Semi Independent Provision
7. Placements and Resource Sufficiency Strategy Priorities and Improvement Plan
Page 2 of 31
1. Introduction and Background Information
1.1 Introduction
This Sufficiency Strategy document sets out how the London Borough of Hillingdon (LBH)
intends to meet its Sufficiency Duty as laid down in Section 22G of the Children Act 1989. In
preparing this document consideration has been given to the Statutory Guidance Securing
Sufficient Accommodation for Looked After Children (2009).
The document outlines steps to secure, sufficient accommodation within the London Borough
of Hillingdon which meets the needs of children that the local authority are looking after, and
whose circumstances are such that it would be consistent with their welfare for them to be
provided with accommodation that is in the local authority’s area (‘the sufficiency duty’).
To achieve this, the Strategy will be supported by a range of action plans that will be refreshed
annually. The Strategy should be read in conjunction with the following council plans and
policies;

Children's Social Care Services Improvement Plan 2014-16

Council’s Permanency Policy

Fostering Allowance Policy
This strategy enhances the work already completed as part of the 2011- 2014 Placement
Strategy, which ensures that recent improvements are sustained and built upon.
1.2 London Borough of Hillingdon Profile
Hillingdon is a borough of contrasts. The north of the borough is semi-rural with a large
proportion protected by green belt regulation, and Ruislip is the major centre of population.
The south of Hillingdon is more densely populated, urban in character and contains the
administrative centre of Uxbridge and towns of Hayes and West Drayton.
Heathrow airport is situated in the south of the borough, and is the largest employer offering a
range of relatively well-paid skilled and unskilled manual positions. As well as these many
positives, Heathrow provides many challenges as a major port of entry and the council in the
responsible antidotes to deal with unaccompanied asylum seeking children and families.
The Council shares an almost co-terminus boundary with Hillingdon Clinical Commissioning
Group (known as NHS Hillingdon) which is responsible for the commissioning of healthcare
services.
Population and Ethnicity
Hillingdon's Joint Strategic Needs Assessment (JSNA) shows that the population of the borough
in 2015 is estimated to be 296,000. Projections indicate that Hillingdon's population will grow by
approximately 4,500 people each year up to 2021. The 2015 population estimates show that
6.3% of the Hillingdon population is aged between 15 to 19 years old (projected from the 2012
mid-year estimate).
Page 3 of 31
Age
0-4
5-9
10-14
15-19
20-24
2015 estimate
22,500
20,100
16,700
18,700
23,400
%
7.6%
6.8%
5.7%
6.3%
7.9%
Hillingdon like many other London Boroughs has a young population, with 34.3% of the
population under 25, compared to the national figure of 30.6%.
The population is increasingly diverse, currently 40% from BAME groups (Black, Asian, and
minority ethnic), with a key feature of Hillingdon's demography is the ethnic diversity is
concentrated in the young age groups. As such the proportion of people from BAME
communities is projected to increase to 50% by 2021.
Looked After Children (LAC)
At 31st March 2015 there were 336 Looked After Children in Hillingdon a decrease of 12% from
31st March 2014. The 336 children looked after by the Authority equates to 50 children per
10,000 children under 18 years of age in Hillingdon. At 31st March 2015 the number of LAC who
were Unaccompanied Asylum Seeking Children (UASC) was 93.
National comparison
At 31st March 2014 there were 370 Looked After Children in Hillingdon. This has decreased from
420 children at 31st March 2010. The 370 children looked after by the Authority equates to 55
children per 10,000 children under 18 year of age in Hillingdon. For the same time period this is
lower than the national rate which is 60 children per 10,000 but slightly higher than the rate for
London which is 54 per 10,000. Nationally the trend since 2010 has increased from 57 to 60
children per 10,000 whereas in Hillingdon the trend shows a decrease from 67 in 2010 to 55 in
2014.
The number of UASC looked after by the Authority decreased to 95 at 31st March 2014
compared to 145 at 31st March 2010. This is a decrease of 34% compared to a decrease of 31%
for London and a decrease of 43% nationally for the same time period.
The impact of accommodations for UASC is reflected in the age profile of Looked After Children
in Hillingdon; causing a significant deviation to the national profile. At 31st March 2014 in
Hillingdon 42% of Looked After Children were over 16 years of age compared to 21% nationally
and 30% in London.
The Children's Social Care map below illustrates a snap shot of the work flow volumes in
Children's Social Care.
Page 4 of 31
Safeguarding children (including Child Protection)
In 2013/14 there were 2,947 referrals to Children's Services in Hillingdon which equates to 438
per 10,000 population of children under 18 years of age. This is significantly lower than the
national rate of 573 and the London rate of 470. Of the 2,947 referrals in Hillingdon 543 (18.4%)
were made within 12 months of a previous referral for that child. This compares to 23.4%
nationally and 16.25% for London. In Hillingdon 3% of these referrals resulted in 'no further
action' this is considerably lower than the national rate of 14% and the London rate of 8%.
During 2014/15 the service delivery model and management of Children in Need and
Safeguarding has been significantly changed to make it more effective. This has included the
introduction of a fully functioning MASH team and a Referral and Assessment Service to
strengthen the 'front door'. This resulted in more consistent thresholds being used to determine
access to Social Care Service.
Initial results for 2014/15 show that there have been 3,668 referrals in Hillingdon which equates
to 543 per 10,000 an increase of 24% since 2013/14.
The rate of children who became the subject of a Child Protection Plan during 2013/14 per
10,000 population under 18 years of age in Hillingdon was 30.8 this compares to 52.1 for
England and 43.2 for London. In 2014/15 the number of children who became the subject of a
Child Protection Plan increased sharply to 56.2 per 10,000.
Page 5 of 31
1.3 Mechanisms for commissioning placements in Hillingdon
A Category Management approach is being used to commission services and ensure legally
binding contracts are in place for all external service providers, that these external services are
continually monitored to ensure they are providing a quality service, value for money, and the
team are also responsible for ensuring a robust and efficient contract management system is in
place.
The Category Management Team will ensure all services are procured in accordance with
Hillingdon's Procurement & Contract Standing Orders. In addition, if the estimated contract
value is greater than the limit specified by OJEU, the formal provisions of The Public Contract
Regulations 2015 will be applied.
The Access to Resources Team use these contracts to broker a range of placements for Looked
After Children including; Foster Care, Children's Residential Homes and Semi Independent Living
Accommodation. The team ensure that all individual child agreements are in place for each
Looked after Child to ensure that the placements are meeting the desired outcomes.
The Assistant Director, Children's Social Care chairs a weekly Access to Resources Panel to
ensure that any expensive package of care are appropriately gate kept and also to track and
monitor placements being made outside of 20 miles from home.
As part of the Sufficiency Strategy, a Category Portfolio will be continually developed to deliver
the requirements of Children's service and structured to:







Ensure assurance of supply (provider failure and service interruptions)
Deliver appropriate quality of service
Deliver flexible service solutions
Deliver value for money
Facilitate new and innovative solutions
Develop solutions with new local suppliers
Comply with relevant legislation
1.4 The West London Alliance (WLA)
The London Borough of Hillingdon is 1 of 6 boroughs including Ealing, Harrow, Brent,
Hammersmith & Fulham and Hounslow who form the West London Alliance (WLA). As part of
the Children’s Services Efficiencies Programme the WLA boroughs are also working in
partnership with RB Kensington and Chelsea, and the City of Westminster.
The West London Children’s Services Efficiencies Programme was launched in Spring 2011, and
includes a commitment to develop a specific programme to deliver savings and efficiencies from
spend on externally commissioned social care provision for children in care and care leavers.
Collectively, the West London boroughs spend in excess of £60m per year on Looked After
Children, making them the largest collective purchasers of external Children’s Social Care
Page 6 of 31
placements in the country. All of the Local Authorities within the WLA are working collectively to
develop this joint purchasing power to ensure the quality, value and local sufficiency of
provision. The three main WLA work streams for the LAC category are Fostering (Section 4),
Residential Children's Homes (Section 5) and Semi-independent (Section 6); please see relevant
sections for more information.
2. Looked After Children in Hillingdon
As part of a Improvement Plan the Children's Social Care Service has developed an improvement
programme; with a greater focus on prevention and getting it right through early support,
Children's Social Care Services will focus on offering accessible good quality support for those
families that require specialist interventions.
Children and Young People can become 'Looked After' in two main ways;
1. Voluntary arrangement with their parents or carer (if they have parental responsibility),
2. Following an application to court for an Interim Care Order as part of legal proceedings.
The Council has a duty as Corporate Parent to all children that come into the care of the Council.
This duty is discharged through service provision, delegated participation services and through
the oversight of the Corporate Parenting Board.
The Council also has a set of duties to provide appropriate care and support to young people
leaving care up to the age of 24 to 25 if in further education.
LBH is working in partnership with families and other key stakeholders to prevent children from
coming into care. LBH is committed to provide substantial support to facilitate rehabilitation to
family and kinship Networks. One example is the recent award of contract for an expanded
Family Group Conference Service which started in April 2015. The intention is for Family Group
Conferences to support the families engaged with Children and Young People Services to find
their own solutions to their problems in meeting the child's needs.
Page 7 of 31
2.1 Looked After Children Profile
As at
31/03/2013
Children in Care
No's
Number of Children in Care
358
31/03/2014
%
No's
31/03/2015
%
358
No's
%
336
Gender
Female
131
37%
137
38%
129
38%
Male
227
63%
220
61%
203
60%
Other
0
0%
1
0%
0
0%
Asian
74
21%
55
15%
68
20%
Black
60
17%
69
19%
71
21%
Chinese/ Other Ethnic Group
15
4%
24
7%
19
6%
Mixed
39
11%
29
8%
28
8%
White
170
47%
181
51%
147
44%
Info not available
0
0%
0
0%
3
1%
Placement type
Placed for Adoption
11
3%
7
2%
0
0%
Fostering
237
66%
223
62%
223
66%
Placed with Relative, Friends & Parents
6
2%
5
1%
4
1%
Independent Living
57
16%
73
20%
60
18%
Residential
38
11%
39
11%
45
13%
Other
9
3%
11
3%
4
1%
In Borough
188
53%
196
55%
191
57%
Out Borough
156
44%
154
43%
145
43%
Unknown placement locations
14
4%
8
2%
6
2%
Section 46
1
0%
4
1%
0
0%
Section 44
0
0%
0
0%
0
0%
Section 20
193
54%
197
55%
198
59%
Section 38
14
4%
32
9%
22
7%
Section 31
107
30%
93
26%
92
27%
Section 23
5
1%
7
2%
3
1%
Placement Order
36
10%
24
7%
21
6%
Without Legal Status
0
0%
0
0%
0
0%
Other Legal Status
2
1%
1
0%
0
0%
Ethnicity
Placement Location
Legal Status
In March 2015 there were 336 LAC from a predominately White, Black or Asian background with
59% under the legal status Section 20.
Page 8 of 31
A large proportion of Hillingdon's LAC are place outside Hillingdon but are kept where possible
within 20 miles of their home. The table below shows numbers LAC in Hillingdon placed over 20
miles from home. There has been a steady decline in the proportion of the LAC population
placed outside 20 miles from 18% March 2011 to 14% March 2015. It should be noted that
Heathrow airport is used as the home destination for UASC.
Number of Children Looked After in Hillingdon placed over 20
miles from home
440
420
80
70
70
70
60
400
380
60
55
45
425
360
40
30
385
375
340
365
370
320
20
10
0
2010
2011
2012
All LAC
2013
2014
Placed over 20 miles
In comparison with Boroughs in London and the rest of England; Hillingdon has a good track
record of keeping LAC close to home. Hillingdon's percentage of placements outside 20 miles
from home is predicted to decrease to 14% in 2015. The table below shows a comparison
between Hillingdon, England and London from 2010 to 2014.
% of Children Looked After placed over 20 miles from home
2010
2011
2012
England
16%
16%
16%
London
18%
18%
18%
Hillingdon
16%
18%
16%
2013
16%
18%
15%
2014
17%
18%
12%
3. Principles and Vision of the Strategy
3.1. Vision for Placements in Hillingdon
The vision of this strategy is to help children who are looked after, or at risk of becoming looked
after, by the London Borough of Hillingdon (LBH), achieve the best possible life outcomes and to
ensure that the services provided to these children are structured in a way that best meets their
needs.
Need to develop clarity regarding the following;



50
Increased in house fostering provision,
More timely premises of permanent outcomes,
Manage the external provider market.
Page 9 of 31
It is driven by the following key principles:









Partnerships will be developed with children, young people and families to provide a
range of support and placement options to meet need. We will also listen to our service
users and take feedback from them to ensure that our services are delivered in a way
that is most helpful and effective and serves residents needs.
Every effort will be made to ensure local placements are provided that enable Looked
After Children, (when it is in their best interests) - to remain in their local communities,
maintain their networks, and minimise disruption in their lives, especially schooling.
Partnership and Community support that enables children to stay within their immediate
family will be promoted.
Services to promote permanency for children and young people within their families or
alternative substitute care will be promoted.
Meaningful support to facilitate rehabilitation to family and kinship networks when in the
best interests of the child will be provided.
Where children cannot be supported within their immediate family, “Connected Person”
arrangements will be explored as the preferred alternative arrangement.
Foster care arrangements will only be put in place where family and “Connected Person”
arrangements are not possible.
Residential care arrangements will be put in place where foster care arrangements are
not possible and will provide support to children and young people enabling
rehabilitation to family and connected networks where possible.
Suitable accommodation will be provided to care leavers which will include 'staying put'
where that is in their best interests.
3.2. Objectives
In support of these principles LBH aims to:








Ensure that only those children who need to be looked after are accommodated within
the care system,
Reduce the amount of time children spend in care, by achieving timely outcomes.
Increase placement stability,
Promote and develop in-house fostering services,
Comply with the Statutory Guidance – Securing Sufficient Accommodation for Looked
After Children across the range of needs identified in the Strategy,
Ensure efficient and effective use of Independent Fostering Agencies (IFAs) and
residential care,
Provide Looked After Children with access to available positive activities such as arts,
sport and culture, in order to promote the child's sense of well-being,
Ensure services demonstrate they provide “value for money” to all Hillingdon’s residents.
Page 10 of 31
3.3. Consultation and Service User Feedback
New Statutory Guidance on Promoting the Health and Well-being of Looked After Children was
issued on 17 March 2015.
Looked After Children should be able to participate in decisions about their care. Arrangements
should be in place to promote a culture:


Where Looked After Children are listened to
That takes account of their views according to their age and understanding, in identifying
and meeting their physical, emotional and mental health needs
That helps others, including carers and schools, to understand the importance of listening
to and taking account of the child’s wishes and feelings about how to be healthy.

All Looked After Children are consulted about their placement and experiences of being in care,
including their health and education, throughout their time in care, Social workers meet with
them regularly to seek their views, carers (foster carers or residential staff) are required to
discuss and involve children in decision making on a day to day basis; and there is a more formal
consultation process that takes place in advance of their LAC Reviews, which includes the
Independent Reviewing Officer (IRO) who chairs the Review meeting arranging a time to see the
child on their own in preparation for their review.
There are currently three groups that make up the Children in Care Council (CICC) in Hillingdon,
each of these groups meet a minimum of once a month with the Participation Worker and the
Children’s Rights Officer facilitating the groups with the support of Care Leavers. These groups
are an opportunity for young people to come together with other Looked After Children; be
consulted about improving children services and getting involved in projects to effect change
and improve services given to them.



Talkers: is for 7 to 11 year olds
Step Up: aged 12-15 years
Stepping Out: 16 plus and care leavers. This is a newly formed break away group as a
decision was made to split the Step Up Group into younger and older as it was difficult
for the older Talkers to move up to Step Up with so many older young people and care
leavers. This has enabled this group to focus more on issues relating to leaving care,
training and service developments.
Children and young people from the older groups are trained to deliver training to other children
and staff in Hillingdon and get involved in staff recruitment. They also have representation and
take an active part in the Corporate Parenting Board meetings with Members and Senior
Officers.
Permanency
Permanence is the framework of emotional permanence, physical permanence (stability) and
legal permanence (the carer has parental responsibility for the child) which gives a child a sense
of security, continuity, commitment and identity. The objective of planning for permanence is
Page 11 of 31
therefore to ensure that children have a secure, stable and loving family to support them
through childhood and beyond. The Children Act 1989 Volume 2 Care Planning, Placement and
Case Review.
A range of placement options for achieving permanence are available, including;




Adoption: Adoption provides a child with the opportunity to develop a secure and
lifelong relationship with a family. Adoption is considered the most extreme permanency
option as it legally separates a child from their birth family with the child becoming a full
member of the new family taking the family name and having the same rights and
privileges as if they were born to the parent. The adoptive parents have sole Parental
Responsibility for the child.
Connected Person Fostering (formerly Kinship Care): an arrangement whereby the local
authority has a legal responsibility for a child and place them with a family member or
friend who is a foster carer for that child. Connected person foster carers are subject to
the same assessment and support as main stream foster carers.
Special Guardianship: a formal court order that was introduced on 30 December 2005.
This order awards parental responsibility to the carer until the child is 18 years of age or
the order is revoked. Special Guardianship Carers can be a family member, friend or
someone with an established relationship with the child. Special Guardianship means
that the child lives with carers who have parental responsibility for them until they are
grown up. The child is no longer the responsibility of the local authority however the
local authority has an obligation to provide a financial support pack and other support as
needed.
Long Term Fostering: long term foster care provides a child with the secure and stable
home whilst still being supported by the local authority as a looked after child. Parental
Responsibility is normally shared between the parent and local authority with the child
being placed under the auspices of Section 31 of the Children Act. This year the
government officially recognise long term fostering as an important placement option in
achieving good outcomes for Looked After Children. Long term fostering provides a child
with a form of stability without legally separating the child from their parents.
In 2014/15 there were 15 adoptions in Hillingdon a decrease of 13% from 17 in 2013/14. At April
2015 Hillingdon had 50 Connected Person and 25 SGOs in place.
4. Fostering
Foster carers provide a range of placements to Looked After Children. Foster carers can provide
care in emergencies, caring for a child for just a few days or over a weekend to give the parent /
main carer a break, known as 'respite' foster care or it can be for longer periods, sometimes
throughout a child's formative years up to the age of 21.
The aim of providing a foster placement is to facilitate assessment and care planning /
organising, whilst a child is receiving quality nurturing care. The long term aim is to facilitate a
child's move to permanence; this may include facilitating a child's return home or a move into a
permanent placement, as set out above.
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Hillingdon's CIC and Care Leavers service make plans for children in care which are aimed at
helping them to find a sense of permanence without delay, where possible leave care to live in
stable, loving families. Where young people become eligible for leaving care services to offer
Pathway plans aimed at supporting their transition to adulthood and living independently.
4.1 Fostering Placement Profile
As at
Children in Care
31/03/2013
No's
31/03/2014
No's
237
%
*
66%
Female
95
Male
31/03/2015
No's
223
*
62%
223
*
66%
40%
95
43%
100
45%
142
60%
128
57%
123
55%
Asian
52
22%
38
17%
44
20%
Black
29
12%
31
14%
42
19%
Chinese/ Other Ethnic Group
6
3%
10
4%
9
4%
Mixed
25
11%
18
8%
21
9%
White
125
53%
126
57%
104
47%
0
0%
0
0%
3
1%
Under 10
93
39%
87
39%
83
37%
10 – 12 years old
28
12%
34
15%
33
15%
13 – 14 years old
34
14%
28
13%
28
13%
15 – 16 years old
54
23%
49
22%
55
25%
over 16 years old
28
12%
25
11%
24
11%
Section 46
1
0%
4
2%
0
0%
Section 44
0
0%
0
0%
0
0%
Section 20
113
48%
102
46%
101
45%
Section 38
13
5%
30
13%
22
10%
Section 31
84
35%
70
31%
78
35%
Section 23
0
0%
0
0%
1
0%
Placement Order
25
11%
17
8%
21
9%
Without Legal Status
0
0%
0
0%
0
0%
Other Legal Status
1
0%
0
0%
0
0%
Absent Parenting
55
23%
37
17%
50
22%
Abuse or Neglect
118
50%
109
49%
108
48%
Cases other than Children in Need
0
0%
0
0%
0
0%
Disability
1
0%
1
0%
1
0%
Family Dysfunction
26
11%
35
16%
27
12%
Number of Children in Foster Care
Gender
Ethnicity
Info not available
Age
Legal Status
Main category of need
Page 13 of 31
Family in Acute Stress
14
6%
13
6%
15
7%
Low Income
0
0%
0
0%
0
0%
Parental Illness or Disability
15
6%
13
6%
12
5%
Socially Unacceptable Behaviour
8
3%
15
7%
10
4%
(*% of LAC population)
4.2.
Hillingdon's Fostering Services
The use of In-house foster care is the priority choice for Hillingdon as;






More factors remain in the control of the council such as alteration to the care package
as additional needs arise,
Tailoring provision to emergent need through training and mentoring support for carers
that helps them to develop greater expertise,
Closer relationships between the commissioners,
Focus on Increases local Capacity,
Greater control of cost ensuring value for money,
Children’s outcomes are improved through the closer working relationships foster carers
develop being part of Hillingdon’s service.
As with other local authorities and the private market the recruitment of foster carers remains a
considerable challenge and more needs to be undertaken to achieve results in this area. In April
2015 Hillingdon’s in-house provision consisted of foster carers supporting 104 placements. This
currently equates to approximately 50% of fostering placements made. The intention is that this
% should increase to 57% by 2016.
This will be achieved through the on-going intensive foster carer recruitment programme, which
aims to increase the number of in-house foster carers by a minimum of 20 per annum. The
recruitment work will prioritise the profile and needs of the children coming into the local
authority care with a particular emphasis of the young people who have more complex needs.
This is central to LBH Placement and Sufficiency Strategy and is monitored rigorously through a
project group chaired by the Deputy Director.
As part of this strategy a number of incentives are offered by LBH to foster carers including to
increase local capacity in Hillingdon.
Training & Development of LBH Carers






Annual training programme, which consists of a five-week induction training course (one
day per week over five weeks) as well as specialist training programmes, which are
reviewed annually.
Foster carer allowances exceed the government's national minimum fostering allowance.
Regular contact / visits from a supervising social work
Out-of-hours service, with access to a 24-hour telephone support line
Weekly allowances and fees above the government's recommended national minimum
amount
Access to clinical psychologists and other professionals
Page 14 of 31







Full needs-based training and professional development
Free membership to the Fostering Network
Access to the Hillingdon Foster Carer Association (HFCA) - a support group of foster carers
who host a wide variety of training sessions and social events for looked-after children
and foster carers
Sons and Daughters group for the children of foster carers
Buddying scheme - where new foster carers have access to a foster carer 'buddy' in their
area to further support them
Annual foster carers' celebration evening
Quarterly foster carers newsletter 'Fostering Update'
This offer will be continually reviewed as part of the ongoing development of the recruitment
strategy to ensure fostering for Hillingdon is competitive with the market for all potential foster
carers.
Further work is being undertaken with community groups and voluntary organisations to build
links with cultural, faith and disability groups to assist in targeting recruitment. Particular
attention is also being paid to targeting carers for young people aged 13+ needing foster care.
Service Improvement
Service development has been a high priority by Children Services and the Service Improvement
Plan 2015/16 has set out the overarching vision and priorities for each service area. To achieve
the vision the plan has been developed using the Transformation Children's Pathway work
streams and sets out 7 work stream across each area of Children Services, work stream 5 focuses
on improving the quality of Fostering and Adoption provision.
Outcomes of work stream 5







Deliver top quartile adoption and permanence outcomes for LAC in Hillingdon
High quality and timely assessments
Increase the number of good quality Hillingdon foster placements available to LAC
Reduce the number of independent Foster Agency (IFA) placements used by LAC in
Hillingdon
Sufficient good quality permanent placement options for LAC in Hillingdon
Improve the numbers of LAC placed within their own community (inside 20 mile radius)
Timely administration and management of the Panel process
A fostering recruitment activity plan has been developed between the Fostering and
Communication Teams. This plan focuses on the recruitment of in house carers but has also
targets recruitment of carers for teenagers and long term foster carers as being a priority area.
The recruitment plan has set out activities that will take place throughout the year, the activities
and advertising will take place in most areas of Hillingdon and will use the local resources such as
children centres and libraries to advertise and provide information. The recruitment plan started
with the fostering fortnight, this was a successful campaign where events took place in religious
establishments, the Chimes Shopping Centre and other local venues. This campaign had 56
expressions of interest all of which will be followed up.
Page 15 of 31
Independent Fostering Agencies
It is recognised that the In House Fostering Service will never be able to match all of the foster
care placements required due to the level of diversity and individual needs of the children we
place. Excess demand for foster placements is sourced by the Access to Resources Team from
Independent Foster Agencies (IFA). These services are procured via two Frameworks:


West London IFA Framework (Primary contract)
London Care placements (Secondary contract)
The primary borough Framework is the West London IFA Framework to purchase foster care.
London Care placements are a secondary option predominantly used for out of borough
placements and residential care.
LBH is the lead Borough for the West London IFA Framework procurement activities on behalf of
the WLA. The framework focuses on three types of foster placements;



Core Fostering
Mother and Baby Fostering
Specialist Fostering placements.
Across the WLA in 2013/14 65.7% of all WLA, IFA placements spend was made with West London
framework providers. This was a total of £20.6 million between all the boroughs. Hillingdon
spend via the Framework in 2013/14 was £2,250,654.
The IFA Framework has been active since July 2013 and produced savings of £2.5m across all
boroughs. The fundamental aims of the framework include promoting sufficiency, improving
quality and providing value for money.
Recruitment and availability of IFA local carers remains an issue for West London. Only a few
providers have shown commitment to this area and recruitment performance continues to be
disappointing.
Hillingdon will continue to work with the Children’s Efficiency Programme (WLA) to identify
priority areas of need in the medium and long term working with providers on the West London
Fostering Framework to ensure local capacity meets demand and as a sub-region we place the
majority of children locally. This will include: better utilisation of existing West London carers
and targeted recruitment of new carers.
To actively stimulate recruitment of local carers households in March 2015 a Re-tiering exercise
of the WLA IFA Framework was completed; focusing on recruitment, availability and quality of
local carers. The intention was to increase provider commitment and improve recruitment
performance.
Moving forward the WLA will be taking a Performance Management approach reviewing those
providers where there is a persistent lack of growth. A further Re-tiering exercise will also
completed in March 2016.
Page 16 of 31
Half-yearly provider forums have been agreed to maintain and develop the framework,
addressing any issues that arise over time and most importantly continue to build strong and
enduring relationships with framework providers.
The management of the independent fostering market remains a key responsibility of the
Category Management Team working in partnership with WLA Officers.
4.3. Historic External Spend/Placements
In 2014/15 £3,511,105 was spent on In-house foster households and £3,777,976
on Independent Foster agency households.
The percentage of spend on IFA placements via the WLA framework has increased from 65% in
2013/14 to 67% in 2014/15.
% of IFA spend on IFA Framework (WLA) and Off Framework
2013/14
IFA Framework (WLA)
65%
Off Framework
35%
2014/15
67%
33%
4.4. Location of External Placements
There were 184 new foster placements between 1 April 2014 and 31 March 2015.
68 of these placements were Out of Borough located in the areas below
Postal area
Harrow
Hemel Hempstead
Rochester
Islington
Northwest London
Slough
Twickenham
Northolt
London
Number of placements.
21
2
1
1
6
16
10
9
2
In 2014/15, 23% of all placements were situated 20 miles from home or outside LBH; the
majority of new placements in this period were made in Harrow, Slough, Twickenham and
Northolt.
Page 17 of 31
4.5. Staying Put Placements
The strategic aim is to ensure Hillingdon is able to respond to the staying put duty whilst not
compromising the fostering market.
The average age of leaving home is rising and the transition to adulthood is increasingly
becoming more complex and elongated. In response the government introduced a new duty on
Local Authorities in England regarding Staying Put which came into force on 13 May 2014, in part
5 Welfare of Children (98) of the Children and Families Act 2014.
The council is required to facilitate, monitor and support staying put arrangements for fostered
young people until they reach the age of 21, where this is what they and their foster carers want,
unless the local authority consider that the staying put arrangement is not consistent with the
welfare of the young person.
There were 26 Hillingdon Staying Put arrangements in June 2015 with 1 to 2 new arrangement
anticipated every month. It is predicted there will be 36 Staying Put arrangements in place by
April 2016 due to a small proportion of agreements due to end after 6 months. The new duty
and subsequent projected increase of staying put arrangements will result in Foster Carers being
taken away from an already under supplied market place and provide a significant challenge.
In response, Hillingdon has adopted the West London Staying Put Arrangements Policy which is
intended to ensure that young people can remain with their former foster carers until they are
prepared for adulthood, experience a transition akin to their peers and avoid social exclusion
and subsequent housing and tenancy breakdown. This policy includes an agreement to a formula
outlining how the placement will be supported financially going forward to ensure there is no
misunderstanding between commissioner and provider. All WLA Framework providers have
agreed this policy.
5. Residential Children’s Homes
Children’s homes provide support and care for some of our most vulnerable children and young
people. We want each child in care to be provided with the right placement at the right time,
and for residential child care to be a positive and beneficial choice for the children and young
people living in children’s homes.
Residential care arrangements will be put in place where alternative arrangements such as
fostering are not possible or appropriate. As such many children placed in residential child care
will have highly complex and challenging needs. Their abilities and individual stage of
development will determine their starting point when they arrive at the children’s home and the
home may need to support them through a complex and extended period of transition before
they are able to positively engage and develop.
Page 18 of 31
5.1. Residential Children’s Homes Placement Profile
As at
Children in Care
31/03/2013
No's
38
%
*
11%
Female
8
Male
31/03/2015
No's
39
%
*
11%
43
%
*
13%
21%
13
33%
21
49%
30
79%
25
64%
22
51%
Asian
7
18%
5
13%
6
14%
Black
7
18%
9
23%
11
25%
Chinese/ Other Ethnic Group
3
8%
2
5%
3
7%
Mixed
4
11%
3
8%
2
5%
White
17
45%
20
51%
21
49%
Info not available
0
0%
0
0%
0
0%
Under 10
1
3%
1
3%
1
2%
10 – 12 years old
4
11%
5
13%
1
2%
13 – 14 years old
4
11%
4
10%
8
19%
15 – 16 years old
27
71%
19
49%
17
40%
over 16 years old
2
5%
10
26%
16
37%
In Borough
21
55%
19
49%
21
49%
Out Borough
17
45%
20
51%
22
51%
Section 46
0
0%
0
0%
0
0%
Section 44
0
0%
0
0%
0
0%
Section 20
25
66%
28
72%
37
86%
Section 38
0
0%
0
0%
0
0%
Section 31
11
29%
9
23%
6
14%
Section 23
2
5%
1
3%
0
0%
Placement Order
0
0%
0
0%
0
0%
Without Legal Status
0
0%
0
0%
0
0%
Other Legal Status
0
0%
1
3%
0
0%
Absent Parenting
9
24%
10
26%
16
37%
Abuse or Neglect
8
21%
12
31%
7
16%
Cases other than Children in Need
0
0%
0
0%
0
0%
Disability
8
21%
7
18%
4
9%
Family Dysfunction
6
16%
2
5%
4
9%
Family in Acute Stress
2
5%
4
10%
8
19%
Number of Children in Residential Care
No's
31/03/2014
Gender
Ethnicity
Age
Placement Location
Legal Status
Main category of need
Page 19 of 31
Low Income
0
0%
0
0%
0
0%
Parental Illness or Disability
2
5%
0
0%
1
3%
Socially Unacceptable Behaviour
3
8%
4
10%
3
7%
(*% of LAC population)
5.2. Hillingdon’s Residential Children’s Homes
Hillingdon has three in house residential children's homes, Hillingdon Resource Centre, Charville
Lane and Merrifield's. All are subject to Ofsted regulatory inspections and independent
Regulation 44 and 45 inspections as required by The Children's Homes Regulations 2015.
Hillingdon Resource Centre and Charville Lane have both been found in the recent Ofsted
inspection to be providing a good level of care to children.
Charville Lane Children’s Centre is a 13 bedded Local Authority Home for young people, aged 12
to 17 years of either gender. Charville Lane’s primary focus is working with unaccompanied
asylum seeking children who for different reasons may not be able to return home. They also
work with a small group of local young people who are admitted on a short to medium term
basis usually as a result of placement breakdown.
Charville Lane was found in the recent Ofsted inspection to be a good provision. Key findings
included, exceptionally good relationships between young people and staff members and high
quality effective support that underpins the progress of young people.
Hillingdon Children’s Resource Centre is a 6-bedded local authority home the home looks after
young people between the ages of 11 and 17, both boys and girls. The main focus is young
people in crisis, who cannot live with their families. The unit’s role is to assess the young person
and their family and support them to either return to their family or achieve permanency
through an alternate route.
Hillingdon Children Resource Centre was found in the recent Ofsted inspection to be a good
provision. Key findings included the unit being a caring and well managed home, skilled staff and
positive relationship between staff and young people
Merrifelds is a purpose built Resource Centre with 8 single en-suite bedrooms provided by the
London Borough of Hillingdon, providing respite and Short Breaks service to young people aged
between 10 and 18 years of age, who have a primary need of Learning Disability and complex
needs.
Ofsted rated the service as adequate in January 2015 and then increased in effectiveness in April
2015 at an interim inspection. Key findings included that the Outcomes for children were 'good'
and the quality of care was ' good', commenting that children who use the centre are well looked
after and that staff and managers are effective in providing personalised and well planned care.
Page 20 of 31
5.3. Historic External Spend/Placements
In 2014/15 the LBH spent £1,246,778 on In-house Residential services and £1,709,988
via private and voluntary Residential Services for LAC.
5.4. Location of External Placements
There were 74 new Residential placements between 1 April 2014 and 31 March 2015; 10 of
these placements were out of Borough located in the areas below:
Postal area
Oxford
Brighton
Chelmsford
Canterbury
Exeter
Harrow
Telford
Number of placements
1
1
1
1
2
3
1
In 2014/15, 43% of all Residential Home placements were situated 20 miles from home or
outside LBH.
5.5. Independent Residential Home Providers
It is recognised that the In-house Residential Services will never be able to match all of the
placements required. Excess demand for residential placements is sourced by the Access to
Resources Team from Independent providers.
These services are procured through the London Care Placements framework on an individual
child basis. The market within Hillingdon and the rest of West London remains vastly
underdeveloped and largely unable to meet our needs as 43% of all LAC placements are 20 miles
from home or outside the LBH.
The WLA Children’s Efficiency Programme is working to identify options for and implement a
preferred option for a procurement approach to deliver the shift in the market required,
reducing the provider base and ensure that we are able to better control cost, quality and
continue to develop local sufficiency of placements.
Working with the WLA we have been working with providers to develop organically in
partnership with the West London Boroughs.
The Children’s Efficiency Programme will explore the viability of moving towards using the
National Children’s Homes Contract presenting a proposal with a recommendation to the
programme governance structure by September 2015.
The Children’s Efficiency Programme also co-ordinate's an annual residential provider forum and
other task and finish groups relating to specific topics as required.
Page 21 of 31
The Children’s Efficiency Programme, working alongside Health and Education will continue to
identify and work with organisations that wish to develop services locally ensuring that
opportunities exist for all providers of residential children’s homes to access information about
need/demand in West London.
Access to all independent residential provision is managed by the access to resources panel
which is chaired by the Assistant Director. The panel ensures that the placement is needs led but
also ensures value for money and each case has an appropriate Care Plan.
6. Semi-Independent Provision For Care Leavers and LAC
Children Leaving Care Act 2000 places a statuary duty on the Council to support certain
categories of Looked After Children (''LAC'') and care leavers.
16 or 17 years olds who have been looked after by the local authority, for a period of 13 weeks
or above, since turning 14, at least one day of which is after their 16th birthday, are entitled to
leaving care provisions. There is a duty placed on the council to conduct an assessment of the
young person's needs, looking into what support the young person needs while they remain
looked after and after they cease to be Looked After. On completion of the assessment the
Council must prepare a Pathway Plan. The Pathway Plan must, among other considerations,
provide details of the accommodation the young person is to occupy.
The statute does not stipulate the type of accommodation to be provided. The key issue is that
the accommodation is appropriate and suitable.
However, Statutory Guidance states that it would be inappropriate for 16-17 year olds to live
completely independently and that B&B accommodation should only be used as an exception for
limited period.
Semi-Independent services are used to enable vulnerable and disadvantaged young people to
move from dependence to independence by providing access to accommodation, employment
and personal development with appropriate advice and support. These services also have
Learning & Development activities.
Semi-Independent Provision can be in the form of hostel or home in multiple occupation with or
without support.
The aim of the service is to provide a positive transition from care to semi-independent and
subsequently independent living. Support Service for young residents who may have had a
history of tenancy breakdown/relationship breakdown with family or friends / evictions /
homelessness and or may have an offending history or have drug or alcohol issues.
Page 22 of 31
6.1. Semi Independent Placement Profile
As at
Children in Care
Number of Children in Semi Independent
Placement
31/03/2013
No's
31/03/2014
No's
57
%
*
16%
Female
19
Male
31/03/2015
No's
73
%
*
20%
60
%
*
18%
33%
23
32%
11
18%
38
67%
50
68%
49
82%
Asian
10
18%
11
15%
16
27%
Black
20
35%
24
33%
17
28%
Chinese/ Other Ethnic Group
6
11%
12
16%
7
12%
Mixed
4
7%
3
4%
3
5%
White
17
30%
23
32%
17
28%
Info not available
0
0%
0
0%
0
0%
Under 16 years old
1
2%
0
0%
0
0%
16 years old
25
44%
16
22%
23
38%
17 years old
31
54%
55
75%
37
62%
18+ years old
0
0%
2
3%
0
0%
Section 46
0
0%
0
0%
0
0%
Section 44
0
0%
0
0%
0
0%
Section 20
48
84%
63
86%
57
95%
Section 38
0
0%
0
0%
0
0%
Section 31
7
12%
9
12%
3
5%
Section 23
0
0%
1
1%
0
0%
Placement Order
1
2%
0
0%
0
0%
Other Legal Status
1
2%
0
0%
0
0%
Absent Parenting
39
68%
48
66%
40
67%
Abuse or Neglect
12
21%
13
18%
10
16%
Cases other than Children in Need
0
0%
0
0%
0
0%
Disability
0
0%
0
0%
0
0%
Family Dysfunction
3
5%
6
8%
3
5%
Family in Acute Stress
3
5%
4
5%
3
5%
Low Income
0
0%
0
0%
0
0%
Parental Illness or Disability
0
0%
2
3%
0
0%
Socially Unacceptable Behaviour
0
0%
0
0%
4
7%
Gender
Ethnicity
Age
Legal Status
Main category of need
(*% of LAC population)
Page 23 of 31
The West London Semi Independent market is competitive with 20 providers holding 1.5% to
7.8% of spend by the WLA boroughs (£10.8m over 2013/14). These providers have increased
their percentage of total spend from 44.2% in 2010/11 to 65.4% in 2013/14. The average price of
accommodation and support placement across the WLA was £573 and varied from £530 to £635
across the different boroughs (2013/14).
In 2013/14 the YMCA had the highest spend across the WLA with 7.8% of the total spend
(increasing 3.1% since 2010/11).
6.2. Hillingdon’s Semi Independent Provision
Hillingdon has a range of Semi Independent services with three contracted providers People
Potential Possibilities (P3), West London YMCA, Look Ahead and one In-house service to meet
the housing-related support needs of vulnerable young people and care leavers aged 16-25.
Semi Independent services are also brokered where required via London Care Placements by the
Access to Resources Team.
Home in multiple occupation setting
Housing support
P3 supplies the provision of 3 High needs units (23 residents) staffed 24 hours for residents aged
16 to 17 and 1 Low needs Housing support (9 residents) for residents aged 18 to 24.
The primary aim of the service is to enable clients’ time to engage with the service, and other
appropriate agencies so that, wherever possible and safe, clients will return home and failing
this, find alternative move on accommodation within the local provision.
These services are contracted with P3 from 1 October 2014 to 31 September 2017 (with options
to extend 2 years).
Teenage Parent services
Look Ahead Care and Support has one contract for the provision of a Teenage Parent services for
residents aged 16-25.
This service has an integrated approach to meeting the needs of vulnerable homeless pregnant
women, or young mothers, to help them move onto and successfully establish themselves in
independent accommodation within two years.
The contract for the Teenage Parents service is in two parts Floating support and Building-based
services as follows:
Page 24 of 31


Queens Walk - 6 bed shared accommodation with 36 support hour per week (36)
inclusive of 1st line manager, residents are issued with licence agreements,
Maygoods Lane - 6 self contained flats with 25 contracted support hours per week,
residents are issued with assured short hold tenancies.
Floating Support service operated from Maygoods Lane with 21 support hours per week.
This service is contracted from 15 November 2010 to 14 November 2015 on a rolling contract.
In-House Services
One significant client group for Hillingdon is 16 -17 year old unaccompanied asylum seeking
Children / Heathrow arrivals. Following the Hillingdon Judgment in 2004 this client group must
be treated by a local authority as Looked After Children and ensuring the continued provision of
appropriate support and accommodation for them is a statutory responsibility.
Asylum children have unique needs and requirements from the local LAC population. To meet
this requirement Hillingdon commissioned a specialist 30 bed unit (including 2 Emergency beds)
called Olympic House. This Semi Independent unit specifically looks after unaccompanied asylum
and asylum seeking children aged 16 to 17.
The building is owned and maintained by Centremark Properties Ltd which is rented by
Hillingdon, staffed with an In-house support service provided by Hillingdon. This service is well
utilised and was fully occupied with all male residents as of April 2015.
Hostels
West London YMCA supplies the provision of 2 Hostels to support people with low to medium
support-needs (130 homeless young people and care leaver, 12 move on flats for young people
and 20 units for Homeless families ages 18 +) and 1 low to high support-need Hostel (13 bed sits
and 10 studio flats) for residents aged 16-25.
These services are contracted from 1 October 2010 to 31 March 2016.
The YMCA contract was extended in 2014 after a review showing the services are well utilised
and that most of their referrals are from the Council's Residents Services (Housing Options
Team) and the Children’s and Young People’s Directorate (16+ Team) as well as other local
sources (e.g. the Navigator Advice service). Both departments regard the provision of these
services positively and the Ofsted Inspection of Child Protection and Looked After Children
feedback specifically noted the availability of this type of housing support for care leavers and
16-17 year old Looked After Children and Children In Need as a positive feature for the Local
Authority.
Page 25 of 31
Semi Independent Tender
The YMCA and Look Ahead contracts are naturally coming to fruition and will be reviewed in
2015 with the view to tender. The aim is to ensure that contracts are in place which deliver the
best outcomes and value for money in line with the council’s priorities, the Children’s Pathway
Programme and transformation reviews of Housing services.
There remains an ongoing challenge to reduce the Semi Independent Living placements budget
by £9K (MTFF allocation). In addition to fresh challenges for Asylum funding and at the same
time Hillingdon's key objective in meeting the needs of our young people.
Hillingdon has the opportunity to take into consideration all elements and potentially agree a
combined way forward. The review process will be considered to further expand this tender to
encompass a number of Children and Adult Support Services; and the opportunity of calling off
from the WLA Semi Independence Living Services List (see below).
WLA
The London Borough of Hounslow is tendering The Provision of Semi Independence Living
Services in Partnership with the WLA in 2015. As a participating authority in this procurement
Hillingdon will have access to a list of providers via an access agreement. Providers on the
contract will be required to provide a range of Key Work support services and high quality, safe
accommodation which supports and guides 16+ Young People and Care Leavers towards
achieving independence.
Access to these services will be on the following basis:


Direct Access - Individual Participating Authorities will determine which Provider is best
suited to meet the needs of the child / young person.
Mini-Competition - Individual Participating Authorities can choose to run a mini
competition with two or more providers as determined by them and set additional
criteria
The aim of this new agreement is to improve the quality and choice of accommodation for care
leavers, ensure that placements purchased will conform to specification and that all providers
used, will meet appropriate standards set out in the specification.
Capital development
Centrepoint and the West London Alliance are working together to improve and develop the
provision of accommodation across the region for looked after young people and young people
leaving care. Centrepoint are in a position to invest in the region through capital development
during the 2015-18 period. Site identification is currently the focus of the project. Hillingdon has
been listed as one of six potential areas for the development schemes.
Page 26 of 31
6.3. Hillingdon’s Shared Housing Provision
LAC residents moving into shared housing can come from a range of different circumstances
including their own home or care leavers.
Hillingdon has 6 providers for shared accommodation:






Centremark Properties Ltd
Oakwood Housing Ltd
Care Accommodation
Pangea Support Services
Link Estates
Occom Services
The Council funds housing advice and Support Services to sustain tenancies and enable people to
live independently.
These services are provided via the Young People’s Housing Advice (Navigator) and Support
Service;

Floating Support Service - Supports people aged 16 to 24 living in the borough to ensure that
once people have either moved on from the refuge / hostel or secured a temporary /
permanent accommodation, that they are supported to maintain their independence. This
service supports up to 40 clients with housing / homeless issues.

Housing Advice and Support Service - Located in Yiewsley to provide intensive housing advice
and support up to 20 clients aged 16 to 24. The service is called Navigator and provides drop
in facilities, one to one space, advice space for workshops and offers access to IT / Phones
etc.
These services are contracted with P3 from 1 October 2014 to 31 September 2017 (with options
to extend 2 years).
6.4. Historic External Spend/Placements
In 2014/15 the LBH spent £297,207 on In-house services, £1,268,098 on block contracts and
£2,259,920 on spot contracted Semi Independent support service (Spot contracted monies
includes rents for all contracts).
Rents for UASC aged over 18 were £1,223,300 and £300,924 for UASC aged under 18 in 2014/15
which accounted for 67% of the Semi Independent support service spend.
Page 27 of 31
6.5. Location of External Placements
There were 90 new Semi Independent placements between 1 April 2014 and 31 March 2015; 15
of these placements were Out of Borough located in the areas below:
Postal area
Harrow
Hemel Hempstead
North West London
Twickenham
South Bucks
West London
Number of placements.
1
1
2
4
4
3
In 2014/15, 8% of all placements were situated 20 miles from home or outside LBH. Due to an
increase in the number of young people aged 16 and 17 who are identified as being at risk of
child sexual exploitation and also of involvement in serious youth violence/gang involved young
people, there is likely to be an increase in the number of young people requiring out of borough
placements for safeguarding and legal reasons.
6.6. Alternative Semi Independent Provision
Supported Lodgings
The YMCA supplies a Supported Lodging service to LBH, called "Host Families". Referrals are for
18 plus residents and placements are made by assessing the suitability of the young person for a
host family. The process has to be agreed by the Access to Resources Panel.
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7. Placements and Resource Sufficiency Strategy Priorities and Improvement Plan
Delivering against priorities – The Action Plan
To be development, but needs to be aligned with the following, and expanded appropriately.
In alignment with the Children's Social care improvement Plan 2014/15 the aim (in order of priority) is to;
1. Implement new service structure to deliver and maintain the improvements expected to plan for demand at key points within the
Fostering and Adoption service and implement a ‘best value’ placement service for the LAC model,
2. Increase the range of in-house provision to include short breaks (including those for children with disabilities and additional needs),
remand and mother and baby foster care placements,
3. Development of LBH foster carers to meet the diverse needs and challenges of LAC by improving the support and training for in-house
carers to improve retention,
4. Improve the function and process of family finding within the service to increase in the number of good quality Hillingdon foster
placements available to LAC,
5. Reduce the number of Independent Foster Agency (IFA) placements used by LAC in Hillingdon,
6. Sufficient good quality permanent placement options (return home, long-term fostering, adoption, SGO, connected persons) for LAC
children in Hillingdon,
7. Improve the number of LAC placed within their own community (inside a 20 mile radius).
Procurement Plans;
Fostering services plan in order of priority:
1. Ensure local excess demand for foster placements is met by the Private and Voluntary Sector.
2. Category Management to lead IFA Framework (WLA) Re-tiering exercise to improve recruitment, availability and quality of local carers
in March 2016.
3. Category Management to develop plans for when the IFA framework contract ends in 2017.
4. Work with London Care Service to develop the London Care Placements framework.
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Residential services plan in order of priority:
1. Ensure local excess demand for foster placements is met by the Private and Voluntary Sector.
2. Category Management to work with the WLA to identify and work with organisations that wish to develop services locally ensuring that
opportunities exist for all providers of Residential Children’s Homes in West London.
3. Category Management to work with the WLA to identify options for and implement a preferred procurement approach for Residential
Children’s Homes in Hillingdon and West London.
4. Work with London Care Service to develop the London Care Placements framework.
Semi-Independent services plan in order of priority:
1.
2.
3.
4.
Ensure local demand for Semi-Independent services is met by the Private and Voluntary Sector.
Review Hostel services with a view to Tender.
Review Teenage Parent service with a view to Tender.
Category Management to work with The London Borough of Hounslow and the WLA to tender and implement the Semi-Independent
Living Services Framework in 2015 and 2016.
Measurement of progress






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Improved permanent placement outcomes for LAC in Hillingdon - improvement in the performance as measured by the national
adoption score card.
Reduction in the number of children moved further than 20 miles from their home address to minimum - less than 10% of LAC (36).
QA framework provides evidence of good quality social work practice on all assessments undertaken by Coram (80% judged good or
better and no inadequate).
Number of in-house foster placements to increase to 110 by April 2016.
The proportion of IFA placements to be less than 40%.
Looked After Children receive good outcomes within 12-18 months (return home, long- term fostering, adoption, SGO, Connected
Persons).
As part of a value for money exercise with WLA; Benchmarking of in-house foster carers will be carried out across the West London
boroughs.
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

Implementation of CarePlace as a Brokerage Tool,
Implementation of CarePlace as a data tool - managing framework performance.
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