Agenda item

Bernadette Toomey, Practice Lead for Children and Young People’s Servicespresented a report on the regional pathfinder project ‘Foster North East’ (for copy of report and presentation, see file of minutes).

The Panel noted that following the independent review of children’s social care, all 12 local authorities in the north east collaborated to form a regional hub for recruiting new foster carers. The project, which commenced in September 2023, had led to an increase in expressions of interest in Durham for potential new foster carers.

The Vice-Chair commented on the merits of the activity summary to understand the marketing methods which have the most impact. In response to a request from Councillor Coult, the Practice Lead agreed to arrange for the links to social media pages to be supplied to all elected members to share within their networks.

Resolved:

That the recommendations in the report be agreed.