Agenda item
Corporate Parenting Committee Induction: Role and Responsibilities
Members will receive a presentation on the role and responsibilities of the Corporate Parenting Committee.
Minutes:
Gail Tolley (Strategic Director, Children and Young People and Statutory DCS) introduced the report. She set out the legal framework governing Looked after Children (LAC) and the inspection framework for Local Authority Children’s Services. She explained that LAC were children and young people under the age of 18 and being looked after by the Local Authority and that Care Leavers were LAC for at least 13 weeks from age 14 onwards. Members were advised that the quality of Children and Families work was inspected by Ofsted and covered wide areas including the following; impact of leaders on social work, the experiences and progress of children who need help and protection including children in care and care leavers and the overall effectiveness of the service. Members were pleased to note the highlights of the Ofsted inspection in May 2018 which graded the service areas good and outstanding. Gail Tolley referenced Brent’s pledge to LAC and Care Leavers which was written in conjunction with Care in Action and endorsed by the Lead Member. The pledge was constantly being monitored to ensure that the Authority was keeping to its promises as a corporate parent.
Mr Nigel Chapman (Operational Director, Integration & Improved Outcomes, Children & Young People) advised that the 7 principles of corporate parenting as required by Children and Social Work Act 2017 applied to the whole Council. These placed a duty on all Councillors, Council staff and partner agencies to take on the role of corporate parent of LAC by the local authority and to take a keen interest in their wellbeing and development as any good parent would. It was noted that governance arrangements in Brent involved weekly meeting between Lead Member, Strategic & Operational Directors, Cross-party Corporate Parenting Committee, chaired by the Lead Member that met 5 times a year with additional elected Members on Adoption and Fostering panels.
Mr Chapman informed the Committee that as at March 2018 there were 317 LAC of which 61.5% were male with 16-17 year olds being the largest group (39.4%). He continued that Unaccompanied Asylum Seeking Children (UASC) numbers remained high and made up 21% of the LAC population. This cohort would, in turn, impact on the care leaver numbers very soon as the majority were aged 16 and 17 years old. He continued that the service currently supported 323 care leavers with each care leaver allocated a support worker (Personal Advisor) so as to maintain regular contact with them throughout the three year period up until their 21st birthday. In addition, there was a national requirement to report on young people’s progress on education, employment, training status and the suitability of their accommodation within four months of their 19th, 20th and 21st birthdays. The national requirement was enhanced with Brent’s ‘Local Offer’ for care leavers (published April 2018) which offered support to those of age 25.
Members heard that with 65% of Brent’s LAC were placed in foster care with the majority of other children placed in semi-independent and residential placements, the Council was adhering to its sufficiency duty. Mr Chapman clarified the options for permanency which included adoption, special guardianship, long term fostering and child arrangement order all of which were planned to ensure the children had a secure, stable and loving family to support them. He referenced the role of Virtual School and added that young people who had been in longer term care did better than those who had not and that changes in placement, school changes and school absences detrimentally affected the educational attainment of those children. Mr Chapman continued that all LAC had initial assessment on admission to care which was followed by annual health assessments and 6 monthly dental health monitoring.
The Care in Action (CIA) members then introduced an activity involving all members and officers at the meeting. They divided us into groups and each individual was asked to identify an occasion where a promise had not been kept and explain how they felt. CIA then reflected on the importance of keeping the promises in the Pledge and Charter to LAC and Care Leavers. This activity was well received by all Members and officers.
Gail Tolley added that in order to sustain Ofsted ‘Outstanding’ judgement in 3 years (2021 ILACS), regular and timely attendance at the Corporate Parenting Committee with a clear moral purpose as well as a legal responsibility was essential. In addition the needs of LAC and care leavers must be prioritised and using of collective resources, to fight for their best interests and make a difference for children in care and care leavers.
RESOLVED:
That the report on Corporate Parenting roles and responsibilities be noted.