Agenda item

The Chair of Corporate Parenting Board will present a proposal to the Board in respect to relaunching the MALAP.

The Chair of Corporate Parenting Board provided the Board with a presentation in relation to rethinking the Multi agency looked after partnership (MALAP) and how the Corporate Parenting Board could work more effectively with the MALAP.

 

The Chair advised that she had been working with the Vice Chair, Director and Children's Services and the Director of Children's Care to highlight some of the issues with the MALAP, including for example, how it feedbacks to the Corporate Parenting Board, ways of engagement, the need for clear strategies to raise awareness and developments and the need to address concerns raised from the Ofsted report.

 

 

In order to do this, the Board were made aware of the need to rethink priorities and aims of the MALAP, to include:

 

1. covering topic areas related to MALAP activity and deliver against Corporate Parenting Board strategies

2. connect with priorities of Children Looked After

3. devise a workable strategy whose outcomes may be easily reported back to CPB

4. engage members of CPB

5. be readily accountable for the delivery of outcomes and able to consider ways forward.

 

 

By doing this, the Chair outlined that we were linking to the guiding principles of care leavers (e.g. your home, your friends and family and your needs and wishes) as well linking to the priorities of care leavers (e.g. prevention on the edge of care, permanency planning and voice, participation and influence).

 

The Chair therefore outlined that it was hoped that in order for the Corporate Parenting Board to challenge and contribute to the MALAP, this could be done through a series of spotlight reports, which would:

 

1. decide upon relevant topic

2. organise a group of members of CPB to investigate

3. investigations to be completed between each CPB meeting

4. results reported back to meeting(agenda item)

5. evaluation of findings

6. actions determined

7. make decisions to implement changes/improvements

8. review methodology after some SPOTLIGHT reports

9. Support offered to all members conducting investigations

10. verification that reports are accountable and validated through Performance Management and Quality Assurance processes.

 

Suggested topics could look at:

 

• the role of members in Corporate Parenting

• young people delivering training to corporate parents

• life story work

• meeting children’s health needs and improving performance in health assessments

• children placed at a distance from town

• The offer to care leavers (to link with Care Leavers Week)

 

 From discussions and from agreement from Board members, it was agreed that the first spot light report would conduct a review into how other Corporate Parenting Boards in other Councils Local Authorities as work effectively together.

 

 The objectives of the review would be to :

 

1. to investigate practice elsewhere

2. to compare practice

3. to tease out aspects of excellent practice

4. to ascertain to what extend we can adapt our practice to make it excellent

5. To implement improvements

6. 4 members will work on the spotlight report- Councillors Garvey, Higgins, Walker and Wright

7. Each member will be provided with a template of questions to ask

8. Each member will be given contact numbers etc

9. Discussions will be noted

10. Ideas will be fed back and coordinated

11. A report will be given and conclusions drawn in the next Corporate Parenting Board meeting

 

The Chair welcomed comments from Board Members in which they were all in favour of the suggestion. A Board member raised concern that there is a lack of understanding amongst other Councillors as to the role of the Corporate Parenting Board, which is fundamental as we are all Corporate Parents. It was also noted that the membership of Corporate Parenting Board should be extended to allow as many Councillors as possible to sit on the Board, this however was a constitutional decision and would be put forward to the relevant officer for discussion.

 

 

 

Another Board member outlined that it was important that Councillors took this role seriously and whilst receiving support from Council officers in terms of contacts and questions, that the process should be member led and therefore spot light reports should be written by the members.

 

 

 

The Head of Virtual Schools further made a suggestion that a spotlight topic could look at raising the profile of elected councillors/ Corporate Parenting Board . In response, the Voice of the Chid Coordinator outlined that a piece of work could be undertaken to link with Middlesbrough Children Matter by which every Councillor made a pledge to our children looked after, and they would be challenged on this. Further discussion and work would be undertaken on this.

 

It was further suggested by the Director of Children's Services that the MALAP spotlights be reviewed after 2-3 meetings to ensure the focus and aim were correct. This was agreed by the Board.

 

 The Chair thanked the Board and officers for their contribution.

 

 AGREED

 

1. That the review of MALAP be agreed.

2. That the first spotlight report be conducted and reported back to the next meeting of the Corporate Parenting Board.

3. That Voice of Child Coordinator arrange a meeting to discuss raising of the profile of Councillors with young people.

4. That the Democratic Services officer speak to the relevant officer in relation to membership on the Corporate Parenting Board