Agenda and draft minutes

The Chairman welcomed the guests to the meeting and invited them to introduce themselves. Sheila stated that her main role was to ensure the voices of children and young people in care were heard and included in the decision making process. Dick explained that he was the elected Member for Chelmsford Central and the Cabinet Member for Children and Adults. He stated that he was responsible for a budget of £515 million which accounted for two-thirds of Essex County Council’s budget. Jenny explained that she was responsible for the delivery of social care services for children in West Essex and the county wide strategic lead for children in care and care leavers.

Jenny began by giving a presentation; a copy is appended to the Minutes. The presentation set out the definitions of Corporate Parenting, the duties and responsibilities on local authorities, the role of Essex County Council Members as Corporate Parents and the Essex Corporate Parenting Governance Model. She highlighted the role of Corporate Parenting in district councils. She stated that district councils had equal corporate parenting responsibilities to the County Council but different Corporate Parenting duties such as the provision of housing for care leavers. She explained that many district councils in Essex were not aware of their responsibilities; she was currently engaging with district councils to remind them of their responsibilities.

Dick reported that children’s services in Essex had been on a journey over the last four years. Children’s services had been rated as ‘inadequate’ three times by Ofsted but had recently been rated as ‘good’. He noted that the number of children in care had reduced from 1604 in 2012 to 1047 in 2015 which he credited mainly to early intervention. He stated that when Members were first elected, they were required to sign the Essex Pledge for children in care. They were also required to attend a Member workshop to make them aware of their role as Corporate Parents.

Dick explained that he was the Chair of the all-party Essex Corporate Parenting Panel which had a number of representatives including health and foster parents. The CPP met every three months and looked in detail at the performance management of children in care including health, education and employment. The Panel also received reports from independent advocates at every meeting and the annual reports on fostering and adoption. He stated that the Agenda for the Panel was prepared by the Cabinet Member and Head of Service to make it interactive for Members, rather than being a reporting mechanism, to enable them to engage at the meeting and absorb the information beforehand.   He explained that the Children in Care Council (CICC) was set up in 2009. Children and young people in care were responsible for chairing, organising and facilitating the CICC. The venue for the CICC meetings, County Hall, was chosen by the CICC. He noted that the CICC was very effective; it set the Panel challenging exercises and gave them the opportunity to hear about their lives.

Dick  ...  view the full minutes text for item 21.

The Committee noted that Mr Brightwell was unwell and therefore not able to attend the meeting