Agenda item

Child Friendly Sandwell

Meeting of Cabinet, Wednesday, 17th January, 2024 3.30 pm (Item 8/24)

That the Council prepare and submit an expression of interest and application for Sandwell to become a UNICEF Child Friendly Borough.

Decision:

(1) That Cabinet approves the preparation and submission of an expression of interest and application for Sandwell to become a UNICEF Child Friendly Borough.

(2) That a Member Working Group is established comprising of members of the Cabinet, scrutiny and the opposition, to oversee both the submission and each of the phases within the application process of the UNICEF Child Friendly Cities programme.

(3) That lead officers from the following service areas be appointed to sit on the Child Friendly Sandwell Officer Steering Group, to manage both the expression of interest and the application processes for a Child Friendly Sandwell:-

· Communications

· Community Partnerships

· Finance

· Legal and Governance

· Housing

· Regeneration

· Public Health

· Borough Economy

(4) That the following statement is inserted into the Strong Resilient Communities Strategic Outcome of the Council's Corporate Plan:-

“We will work as One Council to lead the way for Sandwell to become a UNICEF Accredited Child Friendly Borough”

Minutes:

Approval was sought for the preparation and submission of an expression of interest and application for Sandwell to become a UNICEF Child Friendly Borough.

A child friendly borough was one that respected and promoted the rights of children and young people and provided them with opportunities to participate in its social, cultural, political and economic life. The development of a child friendly borough involved engaging with children and young people as active citizens, ensuring their safety and well-being and creating inclusive and accessible spaces and services for them.

A child friendly borough was not only beneficial for children and young people, but also for the whole community, as it fostered social cohesion, diversity, sustainability and innovation.

Delivering a child friendly borough would support the Council to deliver its commitment to equality and diversity and key elements of both the Corporate Plan and the Improvement Plan. It would also represent the Council living its values, being ambitious, inclusive, customer focused and accountable.

Whilst the Cabinet were minded to approve the recommendations approval was also sought to include a statement within the Strong Resilient Communities Strategic Outcome of the Council's Corporate Plan to incorporate a Child Friendly Sandwell.

Reason for Decision

A child friendly city was a city, town, community or any system of local governance committed to improving the lives of children within their jurisdiction by realising their rights as articulated in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) which was the most widely ratified human rights treaty in history and had helped transform children’s lives.

Delivering a child friendly borough would support the Council to deliver its commitments to equality and diversity and key elements of both the Corporate Plan and the Improvement Plan. It would also represent the Council living its values, being ambitious, inclusive, customer focused and accountable.

From the results of the boroughwide representative Budget Consultation run in 2023, we know that the most important area of Council business to residents are the services delivered to Children and Young People.

Alternative Options Considered

Appendix A set out the alternative option which would be to create a bespoke model by developing a homegrown Sandwell Child Friendly Borough framework. Given that developing and implementing a Council own model would incur similar costs to the UNICEF framework, without any of the training and mentoring support offered by UNICEF, it was felt that the UNICEF route would be better value for money.

Resolved:-

(1) that approval is given to the preparation and submission of an expression of interest and application for Sandwell to become a UNICEF Child Friendly Borough;

(2) that a Member Working Group is established comprising of members of the Cabinet, scrutiny and the opposition, to oversee both the submission and each of the phases within the application process of the UNICEF Child Friendly Cities programme;

(3) that lead officers from the following service areas be appointed to sit on the Child Friendly Sandwell Officer Steering Group, to manage both the expression of interest and the application processes for a Child Friendly Sandwell:-