UPDATE NO 400 23 April 2020

SESLIP Website – Restricted area access arrangements

The library of useful documents accessible in the SESLIP-website password-protected areas is developing apace, thanks to colleagues. We now have useful directories listing all documents available on the COVID-19, the DCS, the Quality Assurance and the CME Restricted Areas, accessible via the relevant password-protected pages.

Please email Isabelle Gregory (contact details below) if you would like a list of those in your authority who already have access to each SESLIP website restricted area. This request will need to come from a DCS or DCS PA.

Coronavirus and Covid-19 Response

We have created a C-19 page which has unrestricted access and another which is password-protected.

Access to both pages is in the drop-down menu from “Latest News” on the home page.

We have provided links to DfE publications, and on the restricted page, to shared information from colleagues in the South East and from other regional SLI teams. The material from the West Midlands is particularly detailed. SEND specific information is here.

Please can you help us populate the C-19 pages by

1. Sharing any unrestricted guidance, advice or publicity via Isabelle Gregory (contact details below)

2. Sharing any more sensitive material that should be accessible only with a password via Isabelle Gregory (contact details below)

3. Letting us know the name and details your lead contact(s) for coronavirus and covid-19 responses to whom (along with all DCSs) we will give access to the restricted page. Please pass details to Isabelle Gregory (contact details below).

We have so far issued 96 permissions to access this page across all 19 authorities.

All SESLIP meetings cancelled, postponed or moved on-line

The SESLIP team will be delivering as much usual business as possible whilst minimising social contact. In practice this means no face-to-face meetings and plenty of phone calls, conferences, video meetings and the like.

We understand that each authority will have operational priorities at the moment, and that usual SESLIP business will take a back seat. In the meantime we have created information pages for your C-19 response. 

1. We are aware that children’s service leaders are experiencing extremely challenging times, and may value support to maintain resilience so they have the personal resources to continue to respond and adapt to the changing circumstances during this crisis. We have a number of trained coaches with experience of senior management in children’s services who are happy to offer short focused coaching sessions online to assist with debriefing, problem solving, perspective taking and reflection on the current situation and help identify next steps, sessions can range from 30 to 90 minutes and can be organised within a short timescale. These would be free to users and the consultant time met from the SESLIP funds. Please contact Isabelle Gregory (isabelle@firstcareconsultancy.co.uk 07931 586784) in the first instance with your preferred time slot/dates if you would like to take up this offer

2. Similarly, there may be parts of your service that are creaking under the strain of staff redeployments/illness/self-isolation/absence etc. We have experienced and qualified consultants who are unexpectedly available to help problem solve – or even do  –  some critical tasks. We are not quite sure what sort of requests we might receive, but we are here to help and no-one will be turned away. Please contact Richard Tyndall (Richard.tyndall@richardtyndall.co.uk 07880-787007) with your requests.

Emergency Legislation enacted to Reduce Pressure on Children’s Services during CV19 Pandemic

The new rules, which come into force on 24 April will see amendments made to 10 regulations regarding children’s social care including care proceedings, foster careand adoptionarrangements. Regulations surrounding residential care including children’s homes, residential special schools and secure children’s homes will also be affected.

The amendments were laid before parliament on the 23rd April and will bypass the 21-day rule usually used to pass laws.

Sector leaders including the Association of Directors of Children’s Services, Local Government Association and Ofsted were consulted over the changes before they were laid before parliament.

The changes will remain in place until 25 September, however, they will be subject to “continuous review”.

There also likely to be further changes to relax requirements in relation to EHC plans, but these will take longer to come into force.

CYP Now Report is here

New Legislation is here

Adoption

• The emergency legislation will also see rules around DBS and medical checks for potential adoptive parents relaxed along with the need for adoption panels.
• The time limit during which potential adopters must complete the first and second stages of adoption has also been scrapped in order to “provide maximum flexibility to agencies working with families and continue to progress in the adoption process”.
• Rules around care review panels are set to be relaxed (fostering and adoption)

Foster care The use of fostering panels to assess potential foster carers and review ongoing placements will become optional “in order to help speed up the process in light of increasing demand and where places are required more urgently”.

• New rules will also be introduced around emergency placements, allowing people not connected to a child to become temporary foster carers if someone at the child’s existing placement is at high risk from Covid-19 due to age or ill-health.
• Short breaks for children living with parents to stay with foster carers have been increased from 17 days to 75 days.

Residential care The legislation makes significant changes to standards set out for children in residential care.

• Regulations around the provision of care and education for children living in residential care have been relaxed, with staff advised to meet regulations “as far as reasonably practicable during the outbreak”.
• Timeframes relating to children’s complaints have also been eased along with regulations around visits.
• Residential settings may also invoke rules around the deprivation of a child’s liberty, forcing them to self-isolate if they show symptoms of coronavirus or are suspected of having the illness