1.What is your total budget for looked after children’s services?
£10,783,000 – made up of placements, a proportion of staffing team costs and adoption costs.

2. What is your budget for placements?
£8,035,000 excluding UASC and in-house CWD provision

3. How many children do you look after?
132 children in care as at 17/07/2024

4. How many of those children are in sibling groups (including half siblings and step siblings) of?
31 siblings
2 siblings = 7
3 siblings = 1
4 siblings = 2
5 or more siblings = 1

5. How many of these sibling groups are in a placement together in care :
12 of the group of 2 siblings are placed together and the sibling group of 3 are placed together.

6. What is the decision making process for matching children with placements
The child/ren’s needs will be assessed to identify what type of placement would be best suited to meet their needs. A referral form is then completed and sent to our in house fostering team and commissioning team which sets out the child/ren’s needs and what would be required and what type of placement would be needed, they then go out to search for the appropriate placement. Potential placements are then identified and reviewed by the social worker and team to consider which placement is best matched to meet their needs.

7. Is this different for sibling groups? If yes how?
No the same process applies.

8. What are some of the factors when it comes to sibling group placement decision making?
Each child’s individual needs alongside that of the sibling group as a whole is considered as they may have different complexity in need, the sibling relationships are also considered. What does cause complication is large sibling groups and finding placement that can support the sibling group as a whole. Together and apart assessments are completed to help inform any decision making around siblings, all efforts are made to keep siblings together.

9. For those who are not placed together, for how many sibling groups is contact maintained?
Contact is always a key factor and arrangements are put in place to maintain significant relationships as much as possible, this features in each child’s care planning.

10. How is this facilitated?
This can vary, from being supported and supervised by the LA, to informal arrangements between foster carers.