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There was submitted a report by the Head of Early Learning and Inclusion relevant to an update on Corporate Parenting.
The report outlined the Corporate Parenting duties under Part 9 of the Act and set out the corporate parenting responsibilities which extended to all looked after children from birth to when they ceased to be looked after. The public bodies to which Corporate Parenting responsibilities applied were highlighted in Appendix 1 of the report. The Corporate Parenting Plan was also summarised and the report detailed the responsibilities which were set out in the Act. The report also outlined the Corporate Parenting Plan, the reporting procedure and the procedure for complaints and disputes.
Renfrewshire’s Champions Board was highlighted as a forum for care experienced young people which enabled them to meet with and express their views to their Corporate Parents and influence policy and practice for other looked after young people.
D Ford and J McTaggart from Who Cares? Scotland spoke to the Board and gave a brief overview of their organisation; the services they provided; how their services integrated with the Council and the Community Planning Partners; and gave a brief overview of the Communities that Care project.
The report indicated that partners in Renfrewshire were committed to closing the attainment gap between our most able and most vulnerable students and as a result a working group on “Improving Education Outcomes for Looked After Children” had been set up and chaired by the Head of Early Years and Inclusion. The focus of the group was to identify and share best practice across establishments in Renfrewshire. The working group had representatives from establishments in Renfrewshire, Children’s Services, Development and Housing, West College Scotland, the University of the West of Scotland and the Centre for Excellence for Looked After Children in Scotland.
It was noted that Appendix 2 of the report related to the Care Leavers Covenant and contained information on the progress of the partners in delivering the commitments contained within the Covenant and the areas where further progress was required. The delivery against the Covenant commitments were monitored on a regular basis and further reports on progress and areas for development would be brought to a future meeting.
DECIDED:
(a) That the Duties under part 9 of the Act be noted;
(b) That the work that had been undertaken to meet the responsibilities in Renfrewshire be noted; and
(c) That it be noted that the Corporate Parenting Plan would be brought to a future meeting of the Board.