Members are invited to provide verbal updates, if any, in respect of the following bodies:
a) Climate Change Cross-Party Working Group – Chair, Councillor Anthony Lovell;
b) Constitutional Review Working Panel – Chair, Councillor Matthew Dormer;
c) Corporate Parenting Board – Council Representative, Councillor Nyear Nazir;
d) Member Support Steering Group – Chair, Councillor Matthew Dormer; and
e) Planning Advisory Panel – Chair, Councillor Matthew Dormer.
Minutes:
The following updates were provided in respect of the work of the Executive Advisory Panels and other groups:
a) Climate Change Working Group – Chair, Councillor Anthony Lovell
Councillor Lovell advised that a meeting of the Climate Change Working Group had been held in March. The main issues that were in the process of being considered by the group were:
· Electric charging points for vehicles. Consideration was being given to working in partnership with other organisations to deliver electric charging points across the Borough. The Council already planned to install 50 electric charging points.
· Benchmarking data that could be used to help the Council to track progress in tackling climate change. This could be used to monitor areas such as the use of fossil fuels by the Council over time.
b) Constitutional Review Working Party – Chair, Councillor Matthew Dormer
Councillor Dormer explained that a meeting of the Constitutional Review Working Party was in the process of being rescheduled to take place in July 2022.
c) Corporate Parenting Board – Council Representative, Councillor Nyear Nazir
Councillor Nazir commented that the latest meeting of the Corporate Parenting Board had taken place on 12th May 2022.
During the meeting, a presentation had been delivered on the Corporate Parenting Board’s pledges. Members had been advised that these were important aims which covered primary needs such as supporting and listening to looked after children and care leavers. However, it was important to ensure that the pledges were put into practice and prompt cards were being developed with input from young people to help achieve this.
Worcestershire Children First had recognised that there were some weaknesses in their service which were being addressed through the Connect programme, specifically around the 18+ pathway plans. A project to ensure all young people had access to some forms of identification was being delivered, as not all young people had access to this at present.
The Board had heard from three young people who had helped to launch the Kick Start Programme peer mentors’ scheme. This had officially been introduced by Worcestershire Children’s First’s Business Support team. Three new job roles had been created as part of the programme. The Board had heard first-hand how this programme had given these individuals valuable opportunities and enabled personal development.
A new policy was in the process of being developed for when friends and family took care of young people who were classed as children in need. The policy would not be called a fostering policy but would suggest a way of working which allowed family values to be promoted and followed the duty to help children in care to access a connected person to take care of them in the first instance if the parents were unable to cope.
The Board had also noted the content of a quarterly data information report. Members of the Board had requested a report at a future meeting containing more data, with a specific focus on placements outside the county.
d) Member Support Steering Group – Chair, Councillor Matthew Dormer
Councillor Dormer explained that a meeting of the group was in the process of being rescheduled to take place in July 2022.
e) Planning Advisory Panel – Chair, Councillor Matthew Dormer
Members were informed that a meeting of the Planning Advisory Panel had taken place in May 2022. During this meeting, Members had considered the content of the Bromsgrove and Redditch Duty to Co-operate report.