Decision details

The purpose of the report sought Executive approval for the Council to take part in the expansion of Foster with North East and Regional Care Cooperative (FwNE) into a Regional Fostering Hub.

ORDERED that Executive:

1.     APPROVES the Council’s entry into an agreement to be part of the expanded North East Fostering Hub in line with national policy and guidance.

2.     APPROVES the allocation of resources (financial and workforce) as required by the regional model set out in the report.

3.     APPROVES the Council’s support to a North East Regional bid to become a ‘Wave 2’ Regional Care Co-operative national pathfinder and support the submission of a bid to the Department for Education by 22nd May 2026.

4.     DELEGATES authority to the Corporate Director of Children’s Services in consultation with the Executive Member for Children’s Services to take all necessary steps to implement the recommendations in line with National Policy.

REASONS

Foster carers provided high quality care for some of Middlesbrough’s most vulnerable children and as such the Council highly value the part they play in making a difference to children’s lives.

Its ambition was to be able to offer more children and young people high quality family-based care provided by its foster carers. It was also important that the Council were able to maintain lifelong connections for Middlesbrough’s children with siblings, extended families and their wider community. Enhancing the Council’s recruitment and retention of foster carers to reverse the decline in numbers seen in recent years was essential to achieving that.

There was also a financial imperative due to rapidly escalating costs driven by a dysfunctional market model within the care system. This had led to costs, escalating well in advance of budgets, creating substantial pressure and sustainability risks for Councils across the region and nationally. A different approach was needed and the developments detailed in the report gave the Council an opportunity to completely redesign this critical service area with an enhanced regional approach that was still embedded in the locality.

The 12 North East Directors of Children’s Services had, within the scope for this activity, agreed to support this programme. There was also a national expectation to deliver the ‘End-to-End’ expansion. On a national and regional level, recruiting enough foster carers for the number of children requiring care remained a challenge and this approach had been designed to reduce the challenges faced. The costs associated with using external fostering providers and children’s homes could be high. As such, it was hoped this would see a reduction.  

OPTIONS

The Council had considered retaining the status quo and had been advised by the DfE that it was an expectation all local authorities participated in the regional developments outlined above. Adopting a status quo approach could have led to regulatory challenge by the DfE and Ofsted and would have had additional financial implications for the Council.