Agenda item

The Council noted the Corporate Parenting Panel Annual Report for the period April 2018 to March 2019 (for copy see file of Minutes).

The Chair of the Corporate Parenting Panel, Councillor P Brookes explained that the annual report was the second report produced by looked after children. The report contained many jargon free facts and was rich with exciting content.

Councillor Brookes highlighted that the annual reporting procedure had come about as a result of changes made to the Constitution following an OFSTED report produced in 2017 and highlighted a number of weaknesses.

Councillor Brookes announced that the changes made had been successful and referred to the latest OFSTED report which acknowledged that ‘quality of practice had improved’ and there was now ‘strong political insight and challenge’. Councillor Brookes expressed his delight to achieve this positive endorsement.

Councillor Brookes paid tribute to Councillor H Smith, Vice-Chair of the Panel for her expertise and input and placed on record his thanks to the Senior Partnerships Officer who had been proactive in her support to the Panel. Councillor Brookes also reserved praise for Councillor B Bainbridge for participating in the care leavers challenge.

Councillor O Gunn placed on record her thanks to the Chair and Vice-Chair of the Panel for their hard work, expertise and challenge. Councillor Gunn also made special mention of those Councillors who contributed through the fostering and adoption panels who undertook a tremendous amount of very important work. Councillor Gunn urged all Councillors to read the report which had been put together with the help of children.

Councillor A Hopgood thanked the Corporate Parenting Panel for the very interesting and informative report and placed on record her thanks to Councillor Brookes for leading on a very important piece of work. Councillor Hopgood explained that her participation in the Care Leavers Challenge was one of the hardest things she had undertaken and provided her with a unique insight into how difficult it was to survive on £57.90 per week and encouraged all Members to attempt the challenge.