Agenda and minutes

The committee is advised that the public may be excluded from meetings whenever it is likely in view of the nature of the proceedings that exempt information would be disclosed. Meetings of the Corporate Parenting Committee are attended by representatives of Care In Action (CIA), the council’s Children in Care Council. The committee is therefore recommended to exclude the press and public for the duration of the meeting,  as the attendance of CIA representatives necessitates the disclosure of the following category of exempt information, set out in the Local Government Act 1972:  - information which is likely to reveal the identity of an individual.

RESOLVED: that under Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, the press and public be excluded from the meeting for the duration of the meeting, on the grounds that the attendance of representatives from the council’s Children in Care council, necessitated the disclosure of exempt information as defined in Paragraph 2, Part 1 of Schedule 12A, as amended, of the Act, namely: Information which is likely to reveal the identity of an individual.

None.

Members are invited to declare at this stage of the meeting, any relevant disclosable pecuniary or personal interests in the items on this agenda.

None.

To hear any deputations received from members of the public in accordance with Standing Order 67.

None received.

To approve the minutes of the previous meeting as a correct record.

RESOLVED: that the minutes of the last meeting, held on 17 October 2024, be approved as an accurate record of the meeting.

To consider any matters arising from the minutes of the previous meeting.

None.

This is an opportunity for members of BCJ 2.0 to feed back on recent activity.

The Chair welcomed representatives from Brent Care Journeys 2.0 to the meeting and invited them to provide updates from the group.

J informed the Committee that he had been involved in some interviews for roles within the participation team, which included both young people and staff which he felt worked more effectively than having two separate panels. He had started in a Care Ambassador role in January 2025, visiting placements, and had so far visited 2 placements and was enjoying that role as it allowed him to be the voice for young people to ensure they got the service they deserved.

K was retaking her GCSEs to support her future aspirations to do dentistry and had been supported to do that through Brent Virtual School and Kelli Eboji (Head of LAC and Permanency, Brent Council). She had recently taken part in the ‘Create Arts’ Ceramics project which had been a project spanning 6 weeks for young people to learn ceramic skills and create their own pieces, with a trip to the Tate Modern completing the project. N had also taken part in the ceramics project which she had enjoyed.

The Chair thanked those present for their updates, and invited comments and questions from the Committee, with the following points raised:

The Committee asked for further information about what the Care Ambassador role responsibilities were. Brent Care Journeys colleagues explained that Care Ambassadors were entering children’s care homes and semi-independent placements where Brent children were placed to ensure the home was of good quality, met standards and that the children placed there were getting the service they needed, being provided for, were happy there, and were thriving in terms of education and health and being prepared for independence. In terms of how they became Care Ambassadors, Brent Care Journeys colleagues explained that there were several roles in the Council favoured towards care leavers, who sometimes needed extra support in getting a role. The Participation Team helped to find the roles, the young people then applied with support from the team and then interviewed for it. Kelli Eboji added that the chances of care leavers getting involved in these roles had greatly improved, but it was a challenge for the service to broaden that out to attract more interest.

Further information was given on the events that took place during Leaving Care Week in November 2024, where there was a coffee morning, a staff versus young people football match, Masterchef cooking event, and an end of week celebration.

In response to a query on what percentage of care leavers the service managed to maintain a relationship with, Kelli Eboji explained that the service would maintain a relationship with the majority of care leavers between the ages of 18-25. There was a small proportion who left the service before the age of 25 who chose to leave but who always had the option to re-engage. All care leavers had a personal advisor, and once a month there was a care leavers meal where  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.

To provide information to the Corporate Parenting Committee on the progress towards opening Brent’s first residential children’s home.

Kelli Eboji (Head of LAC and Permanency, Brent Council) introduced the report, which provided an update on the Brent Residential Children’s Care Home project. She provided background information that the Council had received DfE funding to open a residential home as outlined in section 3 of the report, and, in terms of the capital workstream, the Council was currently at a place where refurbishment works were being undertaken on the property. The works had started in October 2024 following a procurement exercise and included interior and exterior works, including a roof replacement. It was hoped these would complete by the end of March 2025. The Council had successfully appointed a Registered Manager for the care home and was in the process of advertising for the remaining staff with adverts for a deputy manager, senior residential support staff and residential support staff now live. Documents to register the care home with Ofsted had been submitted and the Council was waiting for Ofsted to complete the process. Palvinder Kudhail (Head of Early Help and Social Care, Brent Council) would be supervising the Registered Manager, visiting the home and ensuring standards were met. The number of staff on site would depend on how many children were in residence, with staff onsite at all times. It was added that the home would be a four-bedroom property with 3 young people residing full-time and one emergency bedroom.

The Chair thanked officers for the introduction and invited contributions from the Committee, with the following points raised:

The Committee noted that the refurbishment works were stated to complete in March 2025, and asked when the home would be operational. Nigel Chapman (Corporate Director Children and Young People, Brent Council) explained that Ofsted had not yet completed the registration process, which could take between 3-6 months. The Council had provided all information required and followed up as there was a hope to open the home as soon as possible following completion in March. There were some savings allocated against the home opening, as it was more cost effective to have children placed locally, so officers were pushing hard to get the home open as soon as possible.

Nigel Chapman also provided some information regarding relationship building which the service had been doing in the local area, following the call-in received in relation to the decision to use the site as a residential children’s home from residents who had not been happy with the home being built in their street. Officers had put in a lot of effort with the residents to keep them updated about the project and communicate an appropriate way that was not defensive, which had broken down some of the stigma residents had been holding.

Noting the reference in the report to a working group for the project, the Committee asked who was on that group and whether young people played any role on that. They were advised that the involvement of young people had been more specific, with a range of different engagement activity  ...  view the full minutes text for item 8.

To share a summary of the national developments of the provision of support and services to kinship carers and children in kinship arrangements, and provide an update on progress with publishing the Brent Kinship Local Offer, and future areas for development.

The Chair invited some of Brent’s kinship carers to the meeting, who had been invited to speak about their experience of kinship care in Brent. They asked the carers to feed back to the Committee how they had found kinship caring in Brent, what support they received and whether there was anything they would like to see to further support them in their care journeys.

One couple explained the circumstances that led to them coming to care for their four grandchildren, the first of whom had come into their care at 10 months old and the second of which had come into their care from birth. When the younger grandchild had turned one, their daughter had become pregnant again, and so The Kinship Care Team had asked whether the couple would take on the third child. The couple had agreed, but highlighted they already had two children under 3 years old, so it had been a difficult decision, particularly as the process needed to be done quickly within 8 weeks. It had then been discovered that their daughter was pregnant with twins, so the couple had agreed to take them on provided they received support with whatever they needed to ensure the twins were not separated. The children were now 14, 12 and 10. From the beginning, the couple had received good support from the Council and had a good Social Care Team. They did have a high turnover of Supervising Social Workers, so when they received their third Social Worker they had not wanted to engage unless they committed to staying with them long term. The third Social Worker had stayed long term and had always remained in communication with the family and checked how they were. As an area for improvement, the couple felt that communication between one Social Worker leaving and the new Social Worker starting needed to be stronger, as it would take a month or so to bring new Social Worker up to date with what was going on, leading to a lot of repeated stories.

Another kinship carer had taken on a child she had known from a baby due to the baby’s mother experiencing mental health issues. The child had been a sibling, but she had been honest with the kinship service that she had some health issues and was of an age where she did not feel able to care for both children. Despite this, she had worked hard to enable the children to remain in contact with each other and she was pleased with how things were going. She felt she had received a lot of support in caring for the child. The carer was considering the SGO route, but had concerns about losing the support she was currently getting from the service. Kelli Eboji (Head of LAC and Permanency, Brent Council) reassured her that the service would work with her to address her concerns and help her decide whether it was the right route for her.

A third kinship carer  ...  view the full minutes text for item 9.

Notice of items to be raised under this heading must be given in writing to the Deputy Director – Democratic Services or their representative before the meeting in accordance with Standing Order 60.

None.