Agenda item

(To receive a report by Tara Jones, Service Manager Regulated Services, which provides the Committee with an update on the work of the Corporate Parenting Panel)

Councillor D Brailsford, Chairman of the Corporate Parenting Panel updated the Committee on the work of the Panel.

It was reported that the Corporate Parenting Panel last met on 8 September 2016 and received a report from Barnardo's about the Leaving Care Service.   It was reported that there were now 37 care leavers in Staying Put arrangements.  It was clarified that a staying put arrangement was where a young person who had been living in foster care remained in the former foster home after the age of 18.  Staying Put arrangements provided a huge number of benefits to care leavers such as transition to adulthood within a supportive family environment and improved opportunities for education, employment or training.

However, concerns were raised by Panel members about the education of young people in custody and that in some prisons education was withdrawn from over 18's as a punishment for bad behaviour.  The Panel felt that officers and members should challenge this practice by some of the prisons as access to education was essential.

The Panel also received an update on the assessment and progress outcomes for Looked After Children for 2015.  This data was currently unvalidated and the final outcomes would be known around February next year. For Key Stage 4, 51 Looked After Children were entered for GCSE's of which 9 were predicted to A-C grades in English and maths.  According to the unvalidated data, 7 achieved an A-C grade in English and maths, which was broadly in line with the prediction.

Members were informed that the next meeting was on 15 December 2016 when the Panel would be receiving the Annual Report for Looked After Children, the Annual report and Statement of Purpose for Private Fostering, and a review report of the Corporate Parenting Strategy.

The Committee was provided with an opportunity to ask questions to Councillor Brailsford and the officers present in relation to the information contained within the report, and some of the points raised during discussion included the following:

·         It was queried what insurance was in place for members who visited Looked After Children in residential homes, if there should be an incident.  Members were advised that officers would check this.

·         Concerns were raised regarding foster carers who gave up due to not getting support at the right time.  It was reported that there were foster carers on the Panel, and one of them had been on the verge of giving up, but spoke to someone and received the support she needed, and carried on fostering.

·         It was noted that Councillors J D Hough and D Brailsford had met with John Harris in relation to the stability of placements.  There was a need to listen to what the foster carers said and to engage with them.

·         In relation to the issue of education being withdrawn in some prisons, it was felt that this was fundamentally wrong as it was likely that a lack of education was the reason young people were in prison.  It was queried whether a working party could be set up to look at this in more detail.  Members were advised that it was not known whether this would be possible, as it was not just a problem in Lincolnshire, but was a national problem, and it was unclear what the Corporate parenting Panel would be able to do to resolve this.

·         It was commented that there was a need to make the district councils aware of the role of the Corporate Parenting Panel, officers agreed to let the Committee know how it got information out to districts.

RESOLVED

That the update and comments made in relation to the Corporate Parenting Panel be noted.