To approve the corporate parenting strategy 2025-2027.

That Cabinet

a) Endorse the corporate parenting strategy 2025-2027 as approved by the Corporate Parenting Board (appendix 1)

b) Delegated authority be given to the Corporate Director for Children and Young People to take all operational decisions, as set out within this report and appendices, that fall within the responsibility of Herefordshire Council.

The strategy sets out the ambition, actions and outcomes we, as a local authority, need to achieve for our children and young people as a Corporate Parent. We need to evidence the Council’s commitment to corporate parenting, to define what difference it will achieve and to evaluate how outcomes are improved for looked after children and care leavers. The most appropriate way to do this is through a Corporate Parenting Strategy. Not to have such a strategy limits our ability to communicate the commitment and priority we are giving to our Looked After Children, Care Leavers and their carers.