Children's Integrated Services Policies, Priorities and Principles

The Children and Social Work Act 2017 legally defines the responsibility of corporate parents. It is the collective responsibility of the council, elected members, employees and partner agencies to provide the best possible care and safeguarding for the children who are looked after by the local authority. The role that councils play in looking after children is one of the most important things they do. Local authorities have a unique responsibility to the children they look after and their care leavers.

The term ‘corporate parent’ is broadly understood by Directors of Children’s Services and Lead Members for Children, as well as those working directly in Children’s Services, in relation to how local authorities should approach their responsibilities for looked after children and care leavers. A strong ethos of corporate parenting means that sense of vision and responsibility towards the children they look after and their care leavers is a priority for everyone. Corporate Parenting is an important part of the Ofsted inspection framework and the Corporate Parenting Principles are referenced in Ofsted’s Inspecting Local Authority Children’s Services.

The Corporate Parenting Principles are intended to facilitate as far as possible secure, nurturing, and positive experiences for looked after children and young people and enable positive outcomes for them.

The experiences of looked-after children and care leavers, particularly in regards to whether they feel cared for and listened to, will therefore be an important measure of how successfully local authorities embed these principles.

The Corporate Parenting Principles set out seven principles that local authorities will have regard to when exercising their functions in relation to looked after children and young people, as follows:

• To act in the best interests, and promote the physical and mental health and wellbeing, of those children and young people;
• To encourage those children and young people to express their views, wishes and feelings;
• To take into account the views, wishes and feelings of those children and young people;
• To help those children and young people gain access to, and make the best use of, services provided by the local authority and its relevant partners;
• To promote high aspirations, and seek to secure the best outcomes, for those children and young people;
• For those children and young people to be safe, and for stability in their home lives, relationships and education or work; and
• To prepare those children and young people for adulthood and independent living.

The Corporate Parenting Principles do not replace or change existing legal duties, The principles are intended to encourage local authorities to be ambitious and aspirational for their looked-after children and care leavers.

In addition, section 10 of the Children Act 2004 sets out the responsibility to make arrangements to promote co-operation between ‘relevant partners’ with a view to improving the well-being of children in their area. This should include arrangements in relation to looked-after children and care leavers. Section 10(5) of the 2004 Act places a duty on relevant partners to co-operate with the local authority in the making of these arrangements, therefore promoting and ensuring a joined-up approach to improving the well-being of children in their area.

See DfE, Applying Corporate Parenting Principles to Looked-after Children and Care Leavers – Statutory Guidance (Feb 2018).

All children and young people have the right to have their physical, emotional and mental health safeguarded and promoted. This includes reducing the childhood obesity level, lowering the rates of teen pregnancy in the UK and minimising the impact of suicide on young people. Where appropriate, they should be supported to develop a sense of well-being through:

• Build resilience;
• Develop their self image and confidence;
• Experience positive affirmation and encouragement.

All young people should be given the encouragement and opportunity to live a healthy lifestyle.

All children and young people have the right to be safe and secure, protected from harm and neglect, and to live in an environment that enables them to develop to their full physical, mental, spiritual, moral and social potential. This includes being safe from a range of concerns. When they need help to achieve these outcomes it should be available in a timely way and delivered through effective interventions.

All children and young people have the right to family life wherever possible and to be supported to take part in community life. They have the right to a continuity of care wherever possible and to develop and preserve their own identities.

All children have a right to a loving and secure home and, where this cannot be provided by their birth parents and wider families, children should have the opportunity to experience this through adoption, special guardianship, child arrangement orders or long term fostering.

All children and young people have the right to good education and training which meets their identified needs and equips them to live full adult lives. Looked after children should have the opportunity to attend good schools, higher education/training establishments where they make the expected or greater than expected progress and effective use is made of the additional resources available for them through the pupil premium. All children (not forgetting young carers) have the right to time and support to pursue appropriate leisure interests.

All children should be encouraged and supported to make an age-appropriate positive contribution wherever they are living or call 'home'. They will be able to do this best where they have a continuity of care, an understanding about their identity and information which they can use to make informed decisions about themselves. Therefore, contributing to their own lives.

Children, young people and care leavers should also be encouraged to take an interest in their communities, through school, higher education/training or local clubs, and to take part in activities which contribute to these and/or support others.

All children have the right to be supported in their studies, to be prepared for adult life and work, and to be equipped with the skills and knowledge that will help them overcome any social disadvantage, become self-sufficient and able to make positive choices for themselves.

In addition to these, the Children’s Integrated Services Delivery Plan outlines three key priorities for us locally. They are:

Priority 1 - “A Learning City”

We will play an active role in supporting families to address the issues that can become barriers to learning and aspiration for children, young people and their parents/carers. We will work with education colleagues to support vulnerable learners, including looked after children. This will contribute to the successful delivery of Nottingham City’s Education Improvement Strategy. We will promote a learning culture within our services that ensures our practice is informed by a strong evidence-base, emerging best practice and learning from Serious Case Reviews (SCRs) and other serious incidents. We will act on the findings of inspections, peer reviews, audit activity and our regular performance monitoring.

Priority 2 - “Resilience in Children, Families and Communities”

We will provide early help, parenting and family support, targeted interventions and specialist services to build resilience, not dependence, in the children and families we serve. We will work with our communities to build their capacity to support one another. We will work to safeguard children and young people from harm, abuse and exploitation and we will support children who are in our care and their carers. We will use restorative approaches with young people to enable them to make a positive contribution to their communities.

Priority 3 - “Healthy Minds, Bodies and Relationships”

We will work with our partners to ensure children and young people have the self-esteem, confidence and knowledge to keep themselves safe in their relationships, seeking help when needed. We will, at the earliest opportunity, directly support children, young people and their families that are struggling with significant mental health issues that may result in harm to themselves or others.