Archived decisions

Contact: Emma Gordon [email protected] ext 7567

1. Introduction

1.1 The development and implementation of a Pledge for Hampshire's children in care was selected by the Children and Young People Select Committee as part of their 2008 work programme. Progress with this agenda has been reported to the Committee at their quarterly meetings throughout the year.

1.2 This report highlights the key messages arising from Members' recent meeting with representatives of the Care Council on 9 September 2008.

2. Unveiling of the Pledge banner

2.1 Members were extremely impressed by the thought and effort which had gone into producing this excellent piece of work. Members of the Care Council presented the completed banner to Councillors and made an informal presentation about what the Pledge means to them in practice. Several points were raised during this discussion which were of particular interest to Members - these are described in more detail in section 3 of this report.

2.2 As a result of this meeting, Members are considering how best to present the banner to widest possible audience, possibly at Full Council.

3. Key issues for ongoing monitoring

3.1 Communications

3.1.1 Improving communication between children in care and their corporate parents was raised as being a priority. Members of the Care Council proposed that postcards be used to send messages and ideas to their corporate parents at the Council. Members welcomed this idea and asked officers to consider how best this system could be managed.

3.1.2 The young people also felt that there would be benefit in developing a Care Council website on which young people could share ideas, celebrate achievements and post suggestions for items to be considered at Care Council meetings. The Care Council believed that improved IT to support their work would be of benefit in many ways, but the impact of a website on reducing travelling time and cost for Care Council members attending meetings was underlined as being particularly important.

3.2 Measuring progress with Pledge implementation

3.2.1 Care Council members were supportive of a proposal from Children's Services officers to develop a set of measures against which tangible progress with implementing the Pledge can be measured. The young people also felt that having a system whereby they could `sign off' any actions contributing to the achievement of this agenda would be helpful.

3.3 Financial considerations

3.3.1 There was some discussion regarding the management of Schools Budget funding and Personal Educational Allowances for children in care and how these budgets can be used to realise some of the aims of the Pledge. A particular concern raised was the speed at which payments for things such as school trips are processed, sometimes resulting in young people missing out on trips due to monies being received too late. Officers reassured the group that work had been undertaken to clarify funding issues and that a report to the Schools' Forum on 10 September 2008 laid out proposals on how these funding streams could best be used in Hampshire.

3.3.2 To briefly summarise each funding stream, £1,500 per child per year is available from the Schools' Budget in Hampshire. This funding comes from the Dedicated Schools Grant and the amount is determined by the local authority and paid to Hampshire schools, via the Schools' Forum, for each child in care on roll, regardless of which local authority cares for the young person. Schools' Budget Funding is intended to support and contribute to the quality of education for children in care. Personal Education Allowances are a separate funding arrangement which are intended to support children in care who are in danger of falling behind in their studies. PEAs are funded from the Area Based Grant and the Department for Children, Schools and Families states that `it is for local authorities to decide how best to use this funding to meet their duty to promote the educational achievement of looked after children', although there is an expectation that, from April 2008, £500 per year per child should be made available. Again, this allowance is attached to a pupil on roll in a Hampshire school, regardless of their care authority.

3.3.2 Examples of good practice in using the Schools Budget have also been collected from Hampshire Schools. These examples show that funding is already being used to facilitate young people's attendance on things such as school trips, in addition to purchasing places on vocational training courses and investing in IT equipment such as laptops.

4. Conclusions and Recommendations

4.1 Progress with delivering and implementing the Pledge is well underway and Members have noted that much of this agenda will take time to embed. Whilst the Children and Young People Select Committee intends to monitor the development and implementation of the Pledge throughout 2008, the Committee has noted several points meriting action at this stage and therefore recommends that:

1. The Executive Member for Children and Families investigates how Hampshire's children in care can communicate effectively with their Corporate Parents using a postcard system.

2. The Executive Member for Children and Families considers how progress in implementing the Pledge can be measured through a set of tangible performance indicators.

3. The Executive Member for Children and Families investigates how ICT can be further improved to facilitate communication between Hampshire's children in care and their Corporate Parents, including consideration of the development of a Care Council website.

3. Financial implications

3.1 None as a direct result of this report

4. Impact assessment

4.1 None as a direct result of this report

5. Crime prevention

5.1 None as a direct result of this report

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.

None.