Issue - meetings

To note the terms of reference for this committee  agreed by Cabinet on the 12^th June 2012.

The committee were asked to note the terms of reference for this committee which were agreed by the Cabinet in June 2012.  The committee were able to recommend any required changes to the Cabinet for consideration.

 The report advised that the Cabinet were able to establish advisory committees and provided some background for the reasons behind the establishment of the Corporate Parenting Advisory Committee as well as providing an update on the recent governance review which had examined the role of the committee.

In view of the governance delivery group’s, previous intention to  decommission  the Corporate  Parenting  committee and given  the Scrutiny Panel for Children’s services  had developed a work programme  there was discussion about whether the  Corporate Parenting  Advisory Committee would be handing over  to the Scrutiny Children’s Panel or  continuing to work separately to the Scrutiny Panel.   The membership of the Children’s Scrutiny Panel contained members of both Corporate Parenting and Children’s Safeguarding Policy and Practice Committee indicating preparation towards this change in committee structure.

 The Chair clarified that the committee would not be working in “handover mode” as this was a Cabinet advisory committee and had distinct responsibilities from a Scrutiny Panel.  The work plan of the Scrutiny panel could be looked at to ensure that there was not a duplication of work.  In relation to the governance review recommendations, these did not indicate that the Corporate Parenting Advisory   committee would automatically be decommissioned after one year as there would be a review. The Corporate Parenting Committee was responsible for monitoring children and young people in care   and ensuring their life chances were maximised in terms of health, educational attainment and access to training and health and this would be considered as part of any review. The governance review recommendations were subject to change, as previously experienced, and therefore the committee should continue working as a Cabinet Advisory committee until further notice. To allow members of the committee to further discuss their concerns and suggestion for improved working of the committee, the chair agreed to have a separate informal discussion with them at the end of the meeting.