Agenda item

The report was not circulated within five clear working days prior to committee because it missed the agenda despatch deadline. As the item was listed on the committee’s workplan it was agreed that it should be considered at this meeting.

Helen Woolgar, assistant director Safeguarding and Care presented the report and addressed points about providing more homes for care leavers in the borough especially as some care leavers had moved back to the borough.

The report referred to 20 individual projects/ improvement activities that had been delivered that were matched with the corporate parenting strategy priorities:

·  Developing the Kinship Care local offer; guidance requires local authorities to cover all forms of kinship care; where a child is being raised in the care of a friend or family member who is not their parent which can be done formal kinship care, special guardianships, child arrangement order 

·  Children’s Residential Development

·  Council’s approach to corporate parenting

·  Foster care sufficiency.

Other points that were addressed during the presentation:

·  Recruitment of foster carers, providing more support and resources would be put into this

·  There are more foster children in residential care due to lack of foster carers in the region.

Action:

The council write formally to central government, detailing the points that were raised at the meeting.

RESOLVED:

That contents of the report be noted.