Agenda and minutes

To receive any apologies for absence.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Ashraf, Chambers, Choudhry, W Gill, Weston and Carmel Hinton Co-opted Member - Roman Catholic archdiocese of Birmingham Representative.

Members to declare any interests in matters to be discussed at the meeting.

There were no declarations of interest.

To confirm the minutes of the meeting held on 20 March 2023 as a correct record.

Resolved that the minutes of the meeting held on 20 March 2023 are approved as a correct record.

To determine whether there are any additional items of business to be considered as a matter of urgency.

There were no urgent additional items of business to consider. 

To consider and comment on the report detailing the feedback from Corporate Parenting Week.

From the 12 to the 16 June 2023 the Council had facilitated a corporate parenting week which had sought to raise awareness around corporate parenting and the responsibilities that were shared across the Council and its partners.

The event, which would take place annually in future, brought together partners from across the Council, Sandwell Children’s Trust (SCT), the Black Country NHS Foundation and Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS). The purpose of the weeklong event had been to:

·      raise the profile of corporate parenting across partnerships;

·      ensure a clear understanding of what it meant to be a corporate parent;

·      develop the confidence of individuals to become good corporate parents.

The week had opened with a one-hour virtual live event which had brought together senior leaders from across children’s services. The virtual event had been well received by staff from across the Council, with over 600 employees from the Council and SCT colleague’s in attendance. The session had been led by a young person who had experienced life in care, who shared the story of their journey.

Throughout the week a range of sessions were delivered, which included:

·      a webinar from SCT to help colleagues understand the journey of the children in care and care leavers;

·      a trauma-informed webinar on supporting children and young people who had experienced trauma;

·      three sessions across the week delivered by the LGA which included: Face to face corporate parenting training to the Council’s leadership team and assistant directors, a virtual training session for newly elected members and a workshop for Corporate Parent Board which focussed on developing a new corporate parenting strategy.

·      a one-hour webinar by CAMHS and the Council on Understanding the Emotional wellbeing and mental health of Sandwell children in care and care leavers.

·      a stand outside the reception area near the children’s outpatients at Sandwell Hospital.

·      a face-to-face networking workshop from the Employment and Skills Team demonstrating what and how support could be offered to ensure that young people accessed employment and apprenticeships.

·      question and answer session delivered by key members of the Corporate Parenting Board.

Throughout the week, feedback had been positive and there had been clear learning across the Council, SCT and partners.

Key actions had been identified which would be a focus over the next 12 months:

·      redraft of the Corporate Parent strategy;

·      the creation of a new vision;

·      to understand that success looked like in terms of the new 5 pledges and 25 promises;

·      create an Assistant Director’s group to which identified gaps in services for children in care and care leavers;

·      work as a multiagency partnership to ensure Sandwell children in care and care leavers became a protective characteristic;

·      ensure further corporate parenting training was provided to business partners;

·      ensure all Elected Members and colleagues received corporate parenting training in the next 12 months.

Following comments and questions from members of the Board, the following responses were provided and issues highlighted:-

·      the number of looked after children that returned to their parents varied, depending on  ...  view the full minutes text for item 23/23

Standing item to consider and note progress on implementation of actions and recommendations.

The Board noted progress on actions and recommendations from previous meetings.

Standing item to consider future items on the Forward Plan.

The Board noted the Cabinet Forward Plan as it related to Children, Young People and Education.