Agenda item

To consider a report of the Director of Children’s Services with an annual report on the activity of the Care Leavers Service from January 2020 to December 2020.

The Board received the report of the Director of Children’s Services presenting the annual activity of the Care Leavers Service.

In response to Members’ questions it was confirmed that:

• In regard to Homelessness Prevention Personal Adviser roles and the funding due to end in March 2021, officers were already employed by the County Council and therefore the knowledge and aspects of the valuable work would be retained (also referred to in recommendation iv below).
• That the examples of educational successes and achievements by care leavers were significant. Furthermore, there were currently 70% of 17-18 year old care leavers, and 68% of 19-21 year old care leavers, in either education, employment or training.
• That briefings and training opportunities had been offered to District and Borough Authorities to inform and offer guidance to local councillors regarding their responsibilities as corporate parents.
• That from the age of 16, young people in care receive a personal allowance and can access a bank account to develop financial independence. Virtual events and training sessions to discuss financial management were also offered to complement the advice and guidance given by carers and Personal Advisors.

There was discussion involving the Council Tax exemptions for care leavers by District and Borough Authorities and it was noted that three Authorities, namely Rushmoor Borough Council, Hart District Council and Gosport Borough Council, were not offering this exemption. In relation to this, Councillor Carpenter, seconded by Councillor Wade, proposed the following additional recommendation:

“That the report be sent to the Leaders of all District and Borough Councils to draw their attention to the excellent report and show what is being done but also that the three remaining Councils are specifically requested to waive Council Tax for their care leavers.”

Councillor Philpott declared an interest as a Member of Gosport Borough Council and did not participate in the vote on this proposal. The remaining Board Members voted in agreement to add this as a further recommendation to those already contained within the report.

RESOLVED:

That the Corporate Parenting Board:

i)     Notes the good outcomes that are being achieved by Hampshire’s Care Leavers and the plans to continue to improve those outcomes further in 2021.

ii)    Endorses the ambition to have more Care Leavers accessing University, as a result of the enhanced Higher Education (HE) offer.

iii)   Notes the desire to increase the number of young people in Education, Employment and Training (EET) as a result of joint working between children’s social care services with the virtual college, Hampshire Futures and the Department of Work and Pensions.

iv)   Notes the aim of retaining specialist housing knowledge within the Care Leavers service after the funding from Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government for the Homelessness Prevention Personal Advisor roles finishes in March 2021.

v)    Endorses the aim of the Care Leavers service to achieve the ‘journey to independence’ workstream in 2021 aiding the successful transition to adulthood for our care leavers.

vi)   Requests that this report be sent to the Leaders of all District and Borough Councils to draw their attention to the excellent report and show what is being done but also that the three remaining Councils are specifically requested to waive Council Tax for their care leavers.