Decision details

(i)  To appoint a Corporate Parenting Committee with cross party membership of 6 Elected Members including the Lead Member for Children’s Services made up of 3 Labour, 1 Conservative, 1 Liberal Democrat and 1 Councillors Against the Cuts.

(ii)  To approve the proposed Terms of Reference for the Corporate Parenting Committee, attached as Appendix 1 of the report.

(iii)  To delegate authority to the Head of Legal, Human Resources and Democratic Services following the consultation with the Cabinet Member for Children’s Services and the Director of People to approve any minor amendments to the terms of reference to ensure arrangements remain fit for purpose.

1. Corporate Parenting is a statutory function of the Council and the Ofsted Safeguarding and Looked after Children Inspection in 2012 graded service provision for Looked after Children as inadequate and many of the performance indicators relating to outcomes for looked after children presently place Southampton in poor performance.
2. Edward Timpson, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Children and Families, wrote to all Lead Members and Directors in June this year reminding them of the importance of having in place strong Corporate Parenting processes which embed the voice of the child.
3. The benchmark for effective Corporate Parenting should be “would it be good enough for my child”? Clearly with service provision for Looked after Children graded as inadequate as part of the 2012 Ofsted inspection and performance indicators placing Southampton in poor performance a review of the current arrangements were essential.

The option of doing nothing to review the current model of Corporate Parenting for Southampton has been discounted given the Ofsted inspection.  In addition a regional Corporate Parenting Seminar has been hosted by West Sussex County Council and provided an opportunity for best practice regarding the delivery of effective corporate parenting to be shared.

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