Agenda item

This is an opportunity for members of Care In Action (CIA) and Care Leavers In Action (CLIA) to feedback on recent activity.

J (Care Leavers in Action) informed the Committee that the group had a Fun Day at the end of the summer holidays with young people and their carers. There had been activities for younger children to participate in and it had been good to see everyone interacting with each other. J had been involved in recent interviews for a new Participation and Engagement Manager. The new Bright Spots Survey would be launched soon.

S (Care Leavers in Action) explained that she had been working with the London Children in Care Council on the Pan-London Care Leavers Compact where they had considered the benefits of recognising being care experienced as a protected characteristic. She thought that some children in care and care leavers may benefit from this, such as being guaranteed an interview when they applied for jobs, but older care leavers were conflicted as to whether this would have an impact or whether it would be a ‘tick box’ exercise because it would not be protected by law. She thought the potential benefits outweighed the negatives.

S asked whether the Council had considered any sessions with care leavers around voting and voter ID, particularly in relation to local democracy and politics. She highlighted that many care leavers may not know much about the political landscape including how to register to vote or that voter ID was now required. Nigel Chapman (Corporate Director Children and Young People, Brent Council) highlighted that Brent Youth Parliament had been looking at voting as an issue to promote, particularly for 17-year-olds becoming 18 soon. This would include awareness of how to register to vote in the first place and information on voter ID. He suggested a session with Care Leavers in Action could take place to get higher numbers of young people registering to vote.

The Chair thanked those present for their contributions and invited members of the Committee to ask questions to the CIA / CLIA representatives. The following questions were raised:

The Committee asked whether the new half price bus and travel card from TfL for 18–24-year-olds would make a difference to care leavers. K highlighted that she currently spent around £15 per day on travel to get to work, which sometimes came out of her savings to pay for, so this would make a big difference to her daily travel expenses. J agreed, explaining that he travelled by bus mainly which could add up and sometimes he would need to take money from another bill to pay for travel. CLIA asked whether the travel subsidy that was offered through Brent’s Care Leaver Charter would continue with the new TfL initiative, but officers were unsure how it would work as they had not yet seen the detail from the GLA. 

The Committee asked how CLIA felt about the rent deposit and housing deposit scheme proposed in the Pan-London Care Compact. For some care leavers, they were still in semi-independent provision, but this commitment would affect them in the near future. One care leaver explained that they did not know much about housing and they were nervous about it, but their personal adviser helped them to feel safe about the future.

The Committee asked what other trips and activities CIA and CLIA would be interested in. Some were interested in doing more theatre trips but recognised that not everyone was interested in that, and residentials were a good activity for team bonding and encouraging people to join the CIA and CLIA groups.

The Committee thanked the representatives for the updates and RESOLVED:

That the updates by the representatives of Care in Action/Care Leavers in Action be noted.