This report and its appendices provide information to support the Health Care and Wellbeing Scrutiny Committee’s scrutiny of the council’s services to support its looked after children who are leaving or have left care.

The committee considered a report on the background council’s services to support its looked after children who are leaving or have left care.

The slide pack was published as part of agenda: Link to 'Appendix 4 for Supporting our Care Leavers'. The slides presented by council officers are outlined below (in italics), with summaries of the responses provided to the key lines of questioning by the committee.

1. The Head of Service for Corporate Parenting introduced the presentation and presented:

Corporate Parenting Responsibilities

a.1 Some of the care leavers were asked what they would like to be said to the committee which were included in the slide.

Pathway Planning

Provision of a Personal Advisor (PA)

a.2 A question was asked about the backgrounds of PA’s and their relationship to the council and to the care leaver.

The Head of Service for Corporate Parenting answered that PA’s are all employed by the local authority into that specific role of PA and come with a lot of different experiences. There are currently 14 PA’s who work in the council’s care leavers team.

The Service Manager Children in Care and Care Leavers added that PA’s come from a range of disciplines and it is intended that they build relationships with young people so they need to have some experience of working with that age group and have a good understanding of children who have lived in care.

Financial Assistance

a.3 The Service Manager Children in Care and Care Leavers noted that regarding the Council Tax Exemption is for young people in and out of county.

What housing options are available – Commissioned (1)

What housing options are available – Commissioned (2)

What housing options are available – Non-Commissioned (1)

a.4 The Head of Service Housing noted that the council is not classed as a stock holding local authority and does not have enough properties to be classed as stock holding. Any accommodation that is brought forward has to be acquired. Funding from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) has assisted alongside the council’s own grant funding to purchase properties for vulnerable client groups.

Helping young people understand their support/accommodation options

What’s in the accommodation pipeline

a.5 The Head of Service Housing added that the council is trying to find accommodation outside of Hereford City in an attempt to branch out into the market towns, as all accommodation is provided in the city. This accommodation is therefore being divided between Hereford and Ross-on-Wye.

Education, Employment, and Training (EET) Support

a.6 The Service Manager Children in Care and Care Leavers noted that numbers of young people who are out of education, employment and training have increased locally as a result of training providers who have not been able to continue providing services in Herefordshire. The council has therefore been responsive in being able to look at how that challenge can be addressed and the Bespoke mentoring service has been commissioned for care leavers who are not in education, employment and training.

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