Loading
The decisions as the council's minutes record them. A plain-language summary follows once it has been written.
RESOLVED: That the Chairperson writes to the Cabinet Member on behalf of the Committee expressing their comments and observations captured during the way forward.
Apologies were received from Cllr Gunter and Emily Gao (Youth Council).
There were none.
The minutes of the 8th April meeting were approved and signed by the Chair as a correct record.
Decision as recorded
RESOLVED: That the Chairperson writes to the Cabinet Member on behalf of the Committee expressing their comments and observations captured during the way forward.
Members were advised that this item sought to provide them with an overview of the work of Corporate Parenting, in particular the annual report, strategy and plan for 2025/26. The Chair welcomed Cllr Sarah Merry (Deputy Leader of the Council and Cabinet Member for Education), Gareth Newell (Head of Policy & Partnerships), Rebecca Brockway (Project Support Officer, Children’s Services) and Sian Sanders (Head of Community Safety & Cohesion). The Cabinet Member was invited to make an opening statement, noting that she was attending as Chair of the Corporate Parenting Advisory Committee (CPAC) rather than in her Cabinet role. She explained that CPAC had recently moved within the performance and partnerships directorate, strengthening cross-council work and allowing more corporate oversight of this area, while the day-to-day operational work supporting and safeguarding children looked after remained within children’s services. She thanked the members of CPAC for their work throughout the year. Officers gave a presentation outlining the key points of the annual report, overall strategy and plan for 2025/26, noting that Corporate Parenting described how the local authority fulfilled its parenting responsibilities and sought positive outcomes for children looked after and care leavers. The local authority was essentially the parent of any child or young person who entered its care, and they wanted all young people to be safe, happy and have the ability to thrive. Officers noted that 1,039 children and young people were looked after by the authority in 2024, though that number had just dropped below a thousand. 56% were male and 44% female, while 65% were white British and 35% other ethnicities. 16% were aged 0-4, 27% were 5-10, 36% were 11-15 and 21% were 16-17. Children who became looked after by the local authority might have experienced a wide range of stressful or traumatic experiences, for example domestic abuse, drug or alcohol abuse, loss or incarceration of a family member. This could impact many things, including brain development, cognition and physical health, and a trauma-informed approach was necessary to have the greatest impact and meet their needs. Officers added that they had consulted with children and young people to ensure their voices were heard. The key themes of their feedback included realistic priorities, acceptance of individuality, helping young people to advocate for themselves, support at the right time and building up skills, as well as being able to show tangible results. The Corporate Parenting Strategy set out a three year plan for what the council, its staff and its partners needed to do to support children looked after and care leavers, to enable them to thrive and improve outcomes. It was built around five key priorities: improving emotional wellbeing and physical health; better connections and improved relationships; a comfortable, safe, stable home; educational achievement, employment and training; and involving and celebrating Cardiff’s children and young people. The Annual Plan for 2025-26 set out the service’s priorities and delivery plan over the next 12 months, with specific actions, operational leads assigned, targets and success indicators where possible to make clear how it was making a difference. Officers highlighted the importance of wider service involvement and a cross-council approach in order to deliver a comprehensive offer for children and young people. Improving emotional health and wellbeing were key, as were educational transitions, and they would be supported throughout by research and best practice. Officers outlined the relevant governance arrangements, noting that the Corporate Parenting Advisory Committee received quarterly updates as well as feeding into the annual report. There was also a new Corporate Parenting Delivery Group involving council officers and partners identified within the annual plan, which met quarterly, and was supported by regular updates to the senior management team. The last CPAC meeting had fed into all three documents, in particular advocating improved visibility and access to opportunities, learning from good practice at other authorities and ensuring good cross-border relationships so those out of county did not lose out. Officers noted a number of key areas of development which supported this work. Data gathering was key, and would enable visual and dynamic representations of progress and robust self-assessment. Staff training would also be rolled out throughout the organisation, with a focus on trauma-informed messaging across all staff teams. A communication and engagement plan had been developed, with regular updates in particular celebrating good practice and the successes of children and young people. The annual plan captured a wide range of activities that a range of service areas could lead on, for example providing opportunities, mentoring, work experience and volunteering placements, and infrastructure support. Members were invited to ask questions and make comments; the discussion is summarised below. Members asked about the progress of the multidisciplinary team (MDT) and the Virtual Headteacher, and heard that the latter could come back to the Committee to give an update on how things were going, with good feedback from Children’s Services so far. The MDT worked with a much wider cohort of young people that just those who were looked after, but had progressed well and been fed into the Corporate Parenting plan. Members highlighted the value of data capture and analysis, and asked whether past and future dashboards could be provided to monitor progress. Members welcomed the focus on outcomes, in particular the impact of strategies on children and young people’s lives, and heard that this was a deliberate shift based around a more structured performance management approach. Some actions still required more detail, but their work on data would make it easier to assess targets and gaps. Officers added that the quarterly reports to CPAC could be sent to the scrutiny committee as well, while the service’s annual communications plan was complete and ready to go out to staff. Officers had strengthened the CPAC agenda structure, with progress updates every quarter and specific reports on priorities. They sought to mobilise the whole organisation behind the Corporate Parenting agenda, with actions in the annual plan all across the council. Members asked that further detail be provided on any changes to CPAC’s governance arrangements and terms of reference, in particular its remit to scrutinise and feed into these policies, in order to avoid potential duplication of work. Members discussed the name ‘corporate parenting’, with the Cabinet Member explaining that there was a wider conversation going on across Wales about the term, and that young people seemed to not like the ‘corporate’ part. Officers added that ‘our care network’ had been suggested as a more accurate description of the network of professionals around the child who ensured continuity of support and a joined-up approach. The Committee discussed the potential impact of social media on emotional health and wellbeing, and asked how the service would influence how children and young people looked after engaged with it. The Cabinet Member agreed that this was a key question that all parents were asking themselves, and suggested that there were pros and cons to social media. At this point there had not been any suggestion from Children’s Services that any sort of blanket ban would be advisable. Members advocated a focus on building resilience rather than solely treating individuals as victims, and heard that children and young people tended to feel the same. Young people wanted to be treated on an individual basis and be supported to advocate for themselves, not told what to do. The plan sought to strengthen this, with a program of social opportunities and skills-based strengthening activities to contribute to improving emotional wellbeing. Officers could also use data to target particular cohorts who required enhanced support. Members noted that 35% of children looked after were placed out of county, and asked whether this was internally deemed acceptable or if the service was keen to get it down. Officers explained that they wanted children to stay as local as possible where appropriate, and this figure was generally due to young people requiring specialised placements which weren’t available locally. Bringing the proportion down was a key priority of Children’s Services, but in the meantime they sought to ensure that those out of county were monitored just as effectively as those in Cardiff. Members emphasised the need to maintain stability and continuity of care for those placed out of county, and heard that this was a key area of focus for the Virtual Headteacher. It was noted that there were also some children who had been placed in Cardiff from elsewhere. Members noted that there were only nine people in the group of young consultees, and asked whether officers were sure they represented the views of all the children looked after in Cardiff. Officers explained that this was a bespoke session where they had been keen not to ask the same questions as previous consultations, and to build on their results. The findings from this group had been reflective of the findings of much broader national consultations. Members discussed the complexity of need, noting that overall school attendance figures among those looked after were relatively low, as was the percentage of care leavers in three or more months of continuous employment. Officers emphasised that one single service area could not address all these needs on its own, and this was the rationale for this greater level of corporate oversight. They were seeking to provide a more cohesive and coordinated offer, and were supporting partners to sign up to the Corporate Parenting pledge. Members suggested that training for councillors could be useful, and heard that officers were reviewing the training offer for all staff, in particular highlighting their roles and responsibilities as part of the trauma-informed approach. Members agreed that it was important for partners too come together to support these pledges. On the topic of complexity of need, Members suggested that while some young people found school to be the only safe place, others might have a very different experience. The Cabinet Member emphasised that all schools responded to the individual needs of the student, and she was grateful to staff for their work and professionalism. Members queried whether it might be necessary to take steps that went beyond that general point in order to support minoritised groups. Members highlighted the importance of data, particularly when it came to identifying gaps in support for those with complex needs and targeting services accordingly. Officers reported that they had recently begun a data requirements exercise, which education colleagues could play a key role in with their records of exclusions, moves between schools and reduced timetables. Members queried statistics regarding children looked after going missing, and heard that there was a lot of work going on to support children and young people looked after who were more vulnerable to exploitation, for instance unaccompanied asylum seeking children. RESOLVED: That the Chairperson writes to the Cabinet Member on behalf of the Committee expressing their comments and observations captured during the way forward.
Part of an issue followed across 3 meetings
There were none.
The next meeting was provisionally scheduled for Tuesday 10th June at 4:30pm.
Councillors must say when they have a personal link to something being discussed, such as a job, a property or a family member. A prejudicial interest is one strong enough that the councillor usually leaves the room and takes no part.
Declarations are read from the minutes once they are published.
Lists the council's current councillors only. Co-opted members, officers and former councillors aren't shown.