Our Commitment to Looked After Children (LAC):

1  Bournemouth Borough Council is committed to raising the quality of life of everyone living within the Borough, including Looked After Children and Young People. In meeting with their responsibilities, CPP members should constantly ask: “‘would this be good enough for my child?”  If it is not good enough then we need to make it so.

2  Legislation and guidance that guides these Terms of Reference:

1. Section 27 of the Children’s Act 1989, amended 2006, places a duty on Housing, Education and Health Authorities to assist with Corporate Parenting;
2. Children (Leaving Care ) Act 2000 To increase support to young people leaving care;
3. Promoting the Health Care needs of Looked After Children, Nov 2002;
4. Adoption and Children’s Act 2002;
5. Guidance on the Education of Children and Young People in Public Care 2000.
6. Care Matters: Transforming the lives of children and young people. Green Paper 2006

3  Bournemouth Children’s Commissioning Strategy (2004) and its Review (2005) provides a strategic overview of the Authorities planning and monitoring arrangements for children who meet the eligibility for access to our service. An overview of our position in relation to Looked After Children is within those reports.

Purpose of the Corporate Parenting Panel

4  To work together, acting on behalf of the Council and partners to ensure the Local Authority’s role of ensuring that all of the services, with a responsibility to Looked After Children, Young People and Care Leavers are of a high standard.

5  To improve the life chances of looked after children in line with their peers. We need to encourage, protect and support our Looked After Children and Young People in order that our children can grow up and contribute and participate as healthy citizens within their community.

The Work Programme of the Panel

6  The Corporate Parenting Panel will meet every 2 months and will undertake the following key responsibilities

Performance Monitoring

7  The Corporate Parenting Panel will scrutinise and monitor outcomes for Looked After Children and care leavers. Information in respect of the performance of ChildCare and Family Support and Inclusion and Achievement will be reported quarterly. 

8  Other monitoring reports include information on:

• LAC performance indicators, population admissions and discharges, stability of placement, performance on reviews, and numbers of children placed for adoption and in external placements.  (This will include both Independent Fostering Agencies and residential provision).
• Staff and foster carer’s recruitment and retention issues.
• Inter-agency partnership working.
• Provision of accommodation for young people leaving care including choices of accommodation
• Annual Fostering and Adoption Services Report.

9  Reports on Education Issues Affecting Looked After Children and Care Leavers    will include:

• Education achievement in Key Stages and national qualifications including progress with key Performance Indicators.
• Performance comparisons against national data.
• Barriers to children accessing educational opportunities in line with their needs, or preventing them achieving their full potential.
• Exclusions – data on attendance and exclusions/number of LAC in full-time education and those in alternative education provision.
• Leaving care – data on progression to further and/or higher education, training and employment.

10  The Panel will receive regular summary reports on:

• Member visits including Regulation 33 visits;
• Reports from the Fostering and Adoption Panels including numbers of fostering and adoption enquiries, assessments and approvals against targets.

11  Ensure that the profile of the corporate parenting agenda is incorporated into key plans, policies and strategies through out the Council overseeing interagency working arrangements. Ensure feedback from the complaints and quality assurance officer in respect of LAC and care leavers is fully utilised.

12  Raise awareness by promoting the role of members as corporate parents and the council as a large corporate family with key responsibilities.

13  Raise the profile of the needs of looked after children and care leavers through    a range of actions including through the organising of celebratory events for the recognition of achievement.

14  Ensure that clarity is available to children and young people on the corporate parenting they can expect from Bournemouth Council.

15  Promote the development of participation and ensure that the view of children and young people are regularly heard through the CPP.

16  Undertake meetings with Looked After Children and Young People, frontline staff and foster carers.

17  Monitor the ongoing commitment to providing support, training and clarity of expectations to foster carers.

Membership of the Panel

18  It is proposed that the member with portfolio for Children’s Services and five members to be drawn from Caring for People and the Education and Lifelong Learning scrutiny and Review Panels. In addition one nomination will be sought from both the Developing Communities and Tackling Crime and the Health and Scrutiny Panel. In addition membership of the panel should include: 

• Looked After Children from a number of local forums such as Total Respect;
• Advocacy worker;
• Two Foster carers representatives;
• Bournemouth and Poole Teaching Primary Care Trust /Board Member;
• Others as required on a permanent or co-opted basis.

In addition the CPP will need to ensure that it has effective mechanisms in place to communicate with looked after children.

Advisors to the Corporate Parenting Panel

19  The CPP will be supported by key officers:

• Director of Children’s Services;
• Heads of Service: ChildCare and Family Support and Inclusion and Achievement and those delegated with this responsibility;
• Commissioning and Performance Manager;
• All Officers across the Council who have responsibility for Looked After Children as and when required.

20  Consideration will be given to Democratic Services servicing the Corporate    Parenting Panel.

Frequency of meetings:

21  For the first year meetings will be set two monthly.  Thereafter if business is established the group may review the frequency and move to a quarterly basis. This will be dependant on feeling confident that key tasks and responsibilities are being carried out with the robustness that is required to improve outcomes for Looked After Children and Care Leavers

Reporting Mechanisms:

22  The CPP will report to Cabinet on an annual basis.
The CPP will report to the Bournemouth Change for Children Board annually.

Costs

23  Foster carers and young people will have their travel expenses reimbursed and any loss of earnings in line with Children’s Services Participation standards. Any claim will need to be submitted through to the Head of Service for authorisation.