Contact: Pam Robinson - Deputy Director of Children's Services; 01962 847991

1 Summary

1.1 On 9^th October 2006 the Department for Education and Skills published its Green Paper, "Care Matters - Transforming the Lives of Children and Young People in Care". In the paper the Government describes the ways in which it believes outcomes for children in care (or children looked after by the local authority) need to be improved. It acknowledges that while there has been measurable progress in recent years, that progress is not sufficient or consistent for all children in care, especially with regard to their educational achievements. It emphasises that these are responsibilities that need to be shared by a range of services and stakeholders within and outside of local government. The closing date for the consultation is 15 January 2007.

1.2 A group of officers lead by the Strategic County Manager (Children and Families) has drafted the attached response based upon our local professional perspective as well as upon the views of elected members and children in care in Hampshire. That response has been submitted on time with the informal support of the Lead Member for Children's Services, but in view of the significance of these issues for the whole council it was felt appropriate to engage the full Cabinet by seeking retrospective endorsement for the response.

1.3 The response follows a template (attached as Appendix One) based upon the main chapters of the Green Paper. A copy of the Green Paper itself can be found in the Members' Room or can be accessed via the DfES Every Child Matters Website.

1.4 Hampshire's response broadly welcomes the majority of the proposals that are within the Green Paper, though with a few significant provisos. The following points are worth highlighting.

· We welcome the suggestion of a "pledge" between the authority and its children to affirm the quality of the service we should provide. We would wish to include natural parents within that pledge. Work has already commenced to develop Hampshire's pledge.

· We support the emphasis on developing better preventative services in order to ensure that the care system can focus its attentions and limited resources on those most in need and also to ensure that children can be sustained within their natural families wherever possible. We are concerned however about the resource implications involved in developing effective early intervention.

· We have said that more attention could be given to the development of the role of the "corporate parent", especially with regard to supporting elected members in their role.

· We are strongly critical of the suggestion that private social care practices can be established to commission services for looked after children. While we are receptive to all forms of provision of service we believe this proposal is ill-considered, will not address the problem of continuity of social work support, but potentially could place further severe financial strain upon local authorities.

· We wholeheartedly welcome a range of proposals made about improving the capacity and competency of the workforce including foster carers.

· We also welcome the Green Paper's focus upon the educational needs of children in care and the shared responsibilities of the local authority and individual schools. We are less certain about the notion of a "virtual headteacher" but will be interested to see how this and related proposals may develop.

· On a specific but important professional point, we are strongly critical of suggestions that the role of Independent Reviewing Officers should be removed from the jurisdiction of local authorities. We believe this stems from a restricted understanding of the role which is key to the authority's own quality assurance of its service and plans.

· These points are a limited summary of our response which is generally positive as can be seen in the appendix.

1.5 Hampshire County Council's own service has progressed substantially in recent years but as with other authorities there are points of concern and consistency. Hampshire has received two separate plaudits within the Green Paper, for kinship care and for restorative justice training within our children's homes. Our internal children's homes and foster care services are strong as is the quality of our care planning. On a number of performance indicators we have an above average track record. However, we are facing severe financial pressures largely because of an increase of the population in care and a subsequent dependency on expensive external provision. We are also concerned that as with other authorities, initial progress in the educational attainment of children in care is not being sustained or improved to the extent we would wish. These issues have been discussed extensively in recent reports to the Executive Member and to PRC.

1.6 As a result of this local position, and in order to prepare Hampshire County Council and partners for any implementation of these proposals, in consultation with the Lead member for Children's Services, the following initiatives have been put in place. We are establishing a member lead Corporate Parenting Group within the auspices of the Children and Young People's Strategic Partnership and linked to the PRC, to ensure a high level of political support and engagement for this service. Secondly, we are establishing a high level officer working group, chaired by the director, to establish and monitor the implementation of a service improvement plan for children in care. The group will include school and external representation to ensure full collective accountability for the action plan that will be developed. The Corporate Parent Group and the Strategic Partnership will support those lines of accountability. Cabinet may wish for progress reports in due course.

2 Consultation

The response attached to this report has been developed after extensive consultation with partners, members of PRC and representatives of children in care.

3 Legal implications

There are no specific legal implications to this report. The local authority has clear statutory responsibilities to look after children governed principally by the Children Act 1989. It remains to be seen what if any of the proposals in the Green paper will require further primary legislation or may be dealt with through regulatory steps.

4 Financial implications

There are no immediate financial implications but there are substantial potential implications. The services for children looked after represent some of the most significant financial risks to this and all other responsible authorities. We would refute any claim that these proposals are cost neutral.

5 Personnel implications

There are no immediate implications though Members should note the references to workforce development within the body of the response.

6 Impact assessment

No impact assessment is required in the development of this report. Undoubtedly the development of the service, and therefore the focus of the working groups described in 2.6 (above), will need to address the issues of inclusion such as the sometimes disproportionate representation of black and minority ethnic groups in care and the particular needs of children with disabilities (see part 13 of the response).

7 Crime prevention issues

There are invalid assumptions made about children in care as young offenders whereas in fact the vast majority of children in care commit no offences. However, one area of focus for the future will be to improve on the performance indicator that measures the re-offending rates of the minority of children who do commit crime.

8 Views of the Local County Councillor

N/A

Recommendations

1. That Cabinet endorses the attached response submitted by the Director of Children's Services to the Green Paper consultation;

2. That Cabinet gives its approval for the establishment of a Members' Corporate Parent Group and notes the introduction of the officer working group as described within the paper.

Section 100 D - Local Government Act 1972 - background documents

The following documents discuss facts or matters on which this report, or an important part of it, is based and have been relied upon to a material extent in the preparation of this report.

NB: the list excludes

1. Published works

2. Documents which disclose exempt or confidential information as defined in the Act.

List documents here or type `none'.