Issue - meetings

The Deputy Mayor and Lead Member for Children’s Social Care and the Executive Director for Children’s Social Care submitted a report for the Executive’s consideration. The purpose of the report was to request ratification and support for the Corporate Parenting Strategy.

The Corporate Parenting Strategy set out the vision and action plan for how the Council and its partners planned to support children and young people who were in care and care leavers to achieve the best possible outcomes. Transforming the approach to corporate parenting was a key priority for the Council, as part of its wider improvement programme across its whole system of support for children and young people in Middlesbrough. The Council’s progress in delivering positive change for children in care and care leavers was a particular focus for the Strategic Multi-Agency Improvement Board, with support and challenge from the DfE and Ofsted.

The strategy had been directly informed and shaped by the active involvement of local children and young people who had contributed their views and ideas based on their personal experiences, their aspirations and ambitions.

Attached at Appendix 1 of the submitted report was a copy of the Corporate Parenting Strategy 2020-2023.

A discussion ensued and Members commented on:

·        the importance of elected members demonstrating that they care about what happens to their looked-after children and care leavers by taking their corporate parenting role seriously; and

·        the need for regular Member briefings to provide information, advice and support to elected members, enabling them to carry out their responsibilities to be good corporate parents.

OPTIONS

If the strategy was not ratified by Executive then there would not be a strategic overview of the work with children who were looked after and care leavers. That may have left them vulnerable and impacted on their life chances.

ORDERED

That the Corporate Parenting Strategy be ratified and supported.

REASONS

Devising and implementing the Corporate Parenting Strategy, and subsequently evidencing its impact, was a fundamental part of delivering Middlesbrough’s Children’s Services improvement plan and therefore improving outcomes for Middlesbrough’s Children who were looked after (CLA). There was a clear expectation that whenever a decision was made the question was asked ‘is it good enough for my child?’