Issue - meetings

As part of the Children’s Select Committee’s work it receives the draft of the Corporate Parenting Panel’s Annual Report, prior to it being received by Full Council

This draft report will form the annual update to Council from the Corporate Parenting Panel in accordance with the Council’s Constitution.

The role of the Corporate Parenting Panel is to secure Councillor involvement and commitment throughout the Council to deliver better outcomes for children and young people who are looked after.

The committee is asked to provide comments on the draft annual report. Also included as an appendix is the Children in Care Council’s Annual Report.

Martin Davis, head of care and placement, presented the report which included details of the seven new priorities for Corporate Parenting, as agreed in 2016. He provided information on each of the priority areas and concluded that the report was a demonstration of progress and that while there was still work to do, it presented a promising picture. An induction session had been completed with the Corporate Parenting Panel and new strategic leads had been identified who would review the report and take the work forward. A new headteacher for the virtual school had also been appointed.

In response to questions, the following points were raised and clarified:

That the form of words for priority seven had been chosen by young people in care, but that the priority area encompassed community services as well as those delivered by Wiltshire Council. Work was on-going to find new ways to deliver mental health support in a more accessible and user-friendly way. Work had been done to reduce waiting times for council mental health services, partly through increased early intervention work, and it was hoped that this would have an impact on looked after children.

That social isolation had come out as a key priority for young people leaving care and that a focus had been put on integrating young people with their communities and services.

That retention of foster carers was affected by a range of factors, but that in comparison to other local authorities, Wiltshire Council had a good rate of retention.

That the relationship between the virtual school and mainstream education providers would be reviewed and refreshed to ensure the it was effective in delivering positive academic outcomes for young people in care. There was a need for further work to improve the way progress was measured on a cohort level as well as on an individual basis, and to consider examples of good practice in spending pupil premium funding.

That young people were involved in the work of the Corporate Parenting Panel and that their views would be continue to be incorporated into the reports taken to the children’s select committee.

The Chairman thanked the officer for his report

Resolved:

To note and endorse the draft Corporate Parenting Panel Annual Report.