To review the progress of the corporate parenting strategy.

The cabinet member children and families introduced the report, supported by the head of looked after children. It was highlighted that:

·         this was an annual review of progress of the corporate parenting strategy;

·         the Children and Social work Act 2017 introduced a new duty on councils to have regard to corporate parenting principles when exercising their functions in relation to looked after children and young people;

·         it was important to give looked after children the same opportunities as other children;

·         all decision reports are now required to consider the impact of proposed actions on looked after children as part of the corporate parenting responsibilities;

·         the number of placement moves had been kept low giving stability for looked after children;

·         looked after children in Herefordshire were achieving better than the national average, six care leavers were studying at university;

·         15 units of accommodation were available in the Supported Housing for Young People Project (SHYPP);

·         the numbers of looked after children continued to be a challenge;

·         placement disruptions lead to some children having to move schools;

·         too often foster carers had not had authority to make day to day decisions delegated to them;

·         turnover of staff in some teams remained high leading to some children having several changes in their social worker.

In discussion of the report it was noted that:

·         opportunities for LAC to undertake work experience and apprenticeships was important and all councillors should seek to make use of their contacts or own businesses to promote these opportunities;

·         there was concern about the continuing increase in numbers of LAC;

·         the wider community had a part to play in supporting children and families, resilient communities could help to ensure that children did not needlessly end up in care by preventing families from reaching crisis;

·         a recent visit from the government’s chief advisor on supporting care leavers had been worthwhile;

·         a recent decision to exempt care leavers from council tax would be reflected in the progress report for 2018/19 and should be included in priority 8;

·         work had been done to ensure that authority to make day to day decisions was routinely delegated to foster carers and cases were audited monthly to make sure this was happening.

The chair of the children and young people scrutiny committee summarised the feedback from the committee. She noted that:

·         not everyone at the council recognised their responsibilities as corporate parents;

·         only around half of councillors had attended the voluntary training course on corporate parenting, this training would be made mandatory for all councillors in future;

·         there was a need to improve awareness of career pathways and opportunities among looked after children, many such children when asked express a desire to work in the care system partly because they want to give back but also because it is what they know.

The vice-chair of the adults and wellbeing scrutiny committee welcomed the news that six care leavers were studying at university and the overall improvement in results achieved in schools. He queried the support provided to SHYPP as it did very valuable work supporting care leavers. It was agreed that the head of strategic housing and wellbeing commissioning would provide some additional information on this matter.

Group leaders were invited to give the views of their group. It was stated that:

·         more could be done at parish level to support looked after children and young people;

·         the attendance of councillors at training events needed to be improved;

·         consistency of contact was important.

The leader of the It’s Our County asked that the wording of priority 8 in the strategy recognise both physical and mental health needs. The leader requested that the cabinet member children and families take this forward in conjunction with the head of looked after children.

Resolved that:

a)    the progress of the corporate parenting strategy as outlined at appendix 1 to this report be considered and cabinet set out any further actions to improve the delivery of the strategy;

b)    the executive’s response to the recommendation of the children and young peoples’ scrutiny committee at appendix 2 be approved.