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Contents

1. Purpose and Function
2. Membership
3. Meetings

1. Purpose and Function

The Fostering Panel monitors the range and type of foster carers available to the local authority in comparison with the needs of children, and plays a key role in the improvement of standards within the fostering service. The Panel's primary responsibility is to act in the best interests of children and young people placed in foster care.

The fostering Panel will also consider all plans for permanent placements that are not adoption placements for children who are under 14 years old. Placement planning meeting must refer such plans to the fostering panel and where there is a delay in the plan being put into action this must also be considered by the panel.

The panel will conduct its meetings in a manner that makes them as accessible to the applicants as possible.

As part of this function, the Panel oversees the conduct of assessments and annual reviews of approved foster carers, advises on any relevant matters in relation to the fostering service and makes recommendations to Children's Services about quality issues and performance standards.

In particular, the Panel makes recommendations as to the following:

1. The suitability of applicants to act as foster carers and terms of their approval (including Connected Persons);
2. Exemptions from the limit to the number of children placed with foster carers;
3. The continued suitability of the foster carers and whether the terms of the approval remain appropriate (after the first annual review of foster carers and any other review where significant changes or termination of approval is recommended - see Annual Review of Foster Carers Procedure);
4. Any other special mattes relevant to a foster carer which the Chair of the Panel considers appropriate to be referred;
5. Referrals to the Independent Review Mechanism - see Assessment and Approvals: Section 10, Representations/ Independent Review Procedure.

The Panel will also receive and consider any representations challenging a decision not to approve an applicant as suitable, or to terminate or revise the terms of a foster carer's approval - see Assessment and Approvals: Section 10, Representations/ Independent Review Procedure.

It also monitors the range and type of foster carers available to the local authority in comparison with the needs of children, and plays a key role in the improvement of standards within the Fostering Service.

The Panel will receive annually the Fostering Service Manager's annual report on the Panel's business, including statistical information about approvals, reviews, termination of approvals, the number of children in placement and complaints received about foster carers during the preceding year.

The Chair will communicate any issues of concern to the Fostering Service Manager and take part in quarterly meetings with him or her and the Vice Chair to review the Panel's functioning and report on the quality of work being presented to Panel, to ensure good standards are maintained.

At the quarterly meetings, the Clerical Officer, Fostering r will provide statistical information in relation to the Panel business, together with information on the numbers of foster carers used by the local authority and the number of children looked after by the local authority. This will enable an appraisal of the extent to which the fostering service is meeting the demand for placements.

The quarterly meeting will consider all issues of service improvement.

2. Membership

There is no fixed panel membership or maximum number of members or maximum tenure of office.

Specialists may be invited to provide expertise in a particular field but they are not allowed to vote on any issue.

So far as possible Panel membership should be gender balanced and reflect the diversity of the local community.

The membership must be drawn from a Central List of persons with the appropriate qualifications and/or experience, including one or more social workers who have at least three years' relevant post-qualifying experience.

Where it is considered that someone is unsuitable to be on the Central List, they must be given one months' notice in writing and reasons for the decision to end their inclusion on the list. The Chair will be appointed by the Designated Manager (Fostering Panel Appointments) and will be a senior manager with responsibility for the fostering service or an independent person (In Bromley this role is performed by the Head of Service, Care and Resources. (As from 1st October 2011 an Independent Chair must be appointed).

The Designated Manager must also appoint up to two Vice Chairs, whose role is to chair the Panel when the Chair is unavailable.

Reasonable expenses relating to attendance can be met, including travelling expenses and childcare; there is an allowance for attending training sessions plus travel expenses.

All Panel members must have been the subjects of a satisfactory Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) checks before taking up their appointment. These CRB checks should be kept up to date and recorded, including the date when the checks were made. Personal and work references will also be obtained in writing and must be satisfactory.

Each member will be asked to meet the Head of Service, Care and Resources (or Panel Advisor) and Chair, for an interview prior to signing an agreement with the Fostering Service, in relation to his or her membership, covering the service expectations, which are:

• Panel members agree to maintain the confidentiality of the information received and return all reports about individuals to the Clerical Officer (Fostering);
• Panel members agree to read written information prepared for the meetings;
• Panel members are expected to let the Clerical Officer (Fostering)  know that they are unable to attend a meeting in good time;
• Panel members are expected to declare and personal knowledge about a person who is subject to Panel discussion whether or not they believe the information they hold is prejudicial;
• Panel members are expected to uphold the values and policies of the organisation. (See Social Care Values and Principles – The Child’s Journey In Bromley Procedure);
• Panel members are expected to contribute to discussion and to reach a consensus decision;
• Panel members are expected to avail themselves of training offered to Panel members, which will take place at least annually;
• Panel members must declare any accusation of a Criminal Offence by the Police.

Each member must be provided with written information on appointment of their performance objectives, including their participation in induction and other training and safeguarding the confidentiality of records and information submitted to Panel. They will be asked to sign an agreement with the fostering service, in relation to his or her membership, covering the service expectations (including the requirement to report any involvement in criminal proceedings), confidentiality issues and commitment to anti-discriminatory practice.

All Panel members will also be required to attend at least one Panel meeting as an observer before taking up their membership. Panel members should complete induction training within 10 weeks of joining the Central List, have access to appropriate training and skills development and have the opportunity to attend joint training with fostering staff at least annually.

The quorum is 5 provided that the following are present:

1. Either the Chair or one of the Vice Chairs (in the absence of the chair). If the meeting is conducted by the vice chair who is not independent, there must be at least one other member of the panel who is independent;
2. One of the social worker representatives with at least three years post qualifying experience;
3. Three (or in the case of a joint panel, four) other members.

Panel members may request any relevant information or assistance they require, including medical or legal advice, from the fostering agency and, if so requested, this must be provided by the fostering agency.

There must be a process for review of the performance of Panel members (including of the Panel chair by the agency decision maker) and for the performance management of members. Where necessary the termination of the appointment must be considered.

Where there are concerns about a Panel member's behaviour either inside or outside the meetings, and this cannot be dealt with by advice, training and/or information, this will raised by the Chair with the Principal Care Manager (Adoption and Fostering) who will inform the Designated Manager (Fostering Approval Panel). 

The Designated Manager will decide whether someone is unsuitable to be on the Central List and therefore to end the appointment and if so, will advise the member in writing giving one month's notice and clear reasons for the decision.

Panel members may resign by giving one month's notice to the Designated Manager (Fostering Panel Appointments).

3. Meetings

The Fostering Panel meets once each month at Bromley Civic Centre committee rooms on the second Thursday of every month.

The Clerical Officer (fostering) with the Chair's authority, will arrange additional special meetings as necessary

The Clerical Officer (Fostering) r, in consultation with the Chair, prepares the agenda for each meeting and sends out the agenda to Panel members five working days before the meeting.

The Panel's Medical Adviser will provide medical advice on matters to be brought to the Panel, by attendance at Panel meetings or where this is not possible by telephone or an exchange of correspondence on individual cases in advance of the meeting as considered appropriate.  The Clerical Officer (Fostering) will ensure that the Chair of the panel has the written comments of the medical advisor.

All Panel meetings will be attended by a Panel Adviser, who will advise the Panel on regulations, policy and procedures, and take feedback about practice issues to social workers and their managers. The Panel Adviser will arrange for legal advice to be available to the Panel Chair and to the worker presenting the report.

The Clerical Officer (Fostering)  may also  arrange for observers to attend meetings, in consultation with the Chair, but no more than 2 observers may attend at any one time.

The Clerical Officer (fostering) in consultation with the Chair and the Panel Adviser prepares the agenda for each meeting and sends out the agenda to Panel members one week before the meeting.

The Panel welcomes the attendance of prospective foster carers at meetings during consideration of their applications for approval. Applicants can attend r and 'be heard' at fostering panel meetings that consider their approval - for the assessment and approval process in more detail - see Assessment and Approvals Foster Carers Procedure. Social Workers will prepare applicants for the meetings and they should be encouraged to attend and comment on their experience of the process of assessment.

Similarly, approved foster carers will be invited to attend a Panel meeting when any review of their approval, proposed change to the terms of their approval or recommendation to terminate their approval is being considered.

The Assessor social worker, or supervising social worker for approved carers, would also attend and may be accompanied by their manager.

The applicants or approved foster carers may invite a support person, this may be a friend, member of The Fostering Network or a solicitor. The support person may not speak or advocate on their behalf but may help them prepare for the panel.

Panel members must declare whether they know a person under consideration in a personal or professional capacity, in which case they should not participate in consideration of the relevant agenda item.

The time allowed for consideration of the approval of carers is 20 - 30 minutes, and 10 - 15 minutes for reviews where there is no consideration changes to the terms of approval.

Those presenting reports to the Panel must send their reports to the Clerical Officer (Fostering)  at least 10 working days before the date of the Panel. The Clerical Officer (Fostering) r will arrange for the documentation to be distributed to Panel members.

The Chair's role is to ensure that all members participate fully in the meetings (unless an interest has been declared - see below) and that each member has an opportunity to raise questions or offer comments on each matter considered, that sensitive regard is paid to foster carers while keeping the child's welfare paramount, that consensus is achieved wherever possible and that the Panel has clear reasons for its recommendations.

Where there is a serious difference of opinion among members, the Chair may ask for more information to be made available to the Panel before a recommendation is made.  Serious reservations expressed by individual Panel members about a particular recommendation must be recorded in the Panel minutes for consideration by the Agency Decision Maker (Fostering).

At the end of meetings, the Clerical Officer (Fostering) will collect all reports and agenda from members (for shredding).  Panel members who are unable to attend meetings will be asked to return papers to the Clerical Officer (Fostering) (for shredding) as soon as practicable.

The Chair and the Advisers to the Panel will seek feedback from all those involved both in the Panel process and the process of assessment and review, so that the performance of the Agency can be monitored and where necessary, improved.

The Clerical Officer (Fostering) will prepare the minutes in which reasons for recommendations and any disagreements or dissent will be fully recorded.  The minutes will be produced within 6 days of the meeting.

S/he will send the minutes to the Chair for approval of their accuracy, and then submit them to the Agency Decision Maker (Fostering) for approval of the recommendations made.

The assessing social worker/supervising social worker will also ensure that applicants, foster carers and social workers are notified of Panel recommendations within one working day of the Panel. The Clerical Officer (Fostering) will provide social workers with a copy of the relevant minute after a decision has been made by the Agency Decision Maker.

Where the application is approved, the category and any terms of the approval must be also specified in writing.

If a decision is made to approve a foster carer, written notice of the decision and the terms of the approval, signed by the Designated Manager (Fostering Approval Panel) will be sent to the foster carer by The Clerical Officer, Fostering within 7 working days of receiving the decision  who will also send them two copies of the Foster Care Agreement

When recommendation is not to approve or the Designated Manager (Fostering Approval Panel) considers that the applicant is not suitable, S/he must inform the applicant/s in writing, explaining the reasons. The applicant/s should be invited to make written representations within 28 days. If the applicant does not respond in writing within 28 days, the Designated Manager (Fostering Approval Panel) may proceed to make his/her decision and write to the applicants to inform them of the decision.

If representations are made, the application can be reconsidered by the Panel which may uphold the original recommendations or it may make changes. The applicants would normally attend this meeting as would the Assessor and their manager. The applicants may invite a friend, or solicitor to support them.

The Designated Manager (Fostering Approval Panel) will consider all the reports and recommendation and inform the applicant in writing of his/ her subsequent decision and the reasons.

There is no further appeal process but applicants should be made aware of their right to make a complaint.

Conflicts of Interest

Panel members should consider any conflicts of interest in relation to Panel agenda items. A potential conflict arises if an interest may be seen to adversely affect a Panel member's capacity to act without prejudice or preference in a matter.

It is anticipated that in many circumstances there may be professional knowledge of a case which should be notified to the Chair but which will not affect a member's capacity to participate in the Panel. In other circumstances there may be a personal interest or connection which would require the Panel member to refrain from participation. It may be less clear in some cases when advice should be sought.

In the case of a potential conflict of interest where advice is required, Panel members should consult the Chair or Legal Adviser, giving as much advance notice as possible particularly having regard to the implications for the quorum.

End