96 Regional Adoption Agency PDF 549 KB
Officer: Philip Segurola
Key decision: Yes
Decision:
The Leader of the
Council delegated to the Cabinet the power to make the decisions
set out below
RESOLVED
to agree
- That Croydon enter into regional adoption arrangements as part
of Adopt London South;
- That staff and funding (estimated at 8.5 FTE and a budget of
£559k) are transferred to Southwark who will be hosting Adopt
London South on behalf of ten South London boroughs;
- That the statutory and legal functions relating to adoption
services set out in Section 15(3) of the Education and Adoption Act
2016 be delegated to Southwark as host of the Regional Adoption
Agency Adopt London South; and
- That
authority is given to the Director of Early Help and
Children’s Social Care to finalise and agree the arrangements
including signing off the Inter-Authority Agreement between Croydon
and Southwark and any other legal and financial agreements in
consultation with the Cabinet Member for Children, Families &
Learning, Cabinet member for Finance and Resources, the Section 151
Officer and the Monitoring Officer.
Minutes:
The Cabinet Member for
Children, Young People & Learning noted that the overarching
theme of a number of papers at the meeting had been on improving
the outcomes for young people. It was stated that there was a real
opportunity to make a difference to the young people in the
borough.
Members were informed
that all local authorities had been instructed to enter a regional
adoption agency with the ambition that the number of children
adopted and achieving permanency would increase. The report sought
approval to join with neighbouring authorities to create a south
London regional adoption agency with Southwark being the host
borough for the agency.
In response to Member
questions the Cabinet Member stated that the most important element
to her was that children were in safe and secure provision as early
as possible, as it was noted from the Director of Public
Health’s presentation that the first 1,000 days of a
child’s life were the most important for their long-term
health. However, it was stated that it was important to ensure the
model worked to achieve the goal and would be monitored. Members
were assured that staff were being consulted on the proposals for
the regional adoption agency.
The Leader of the
Council delegated to the Cabinet the power to make the decisions
set out below
RESOLVED
to agree
- That Croydon enter into regional adoption arrangements as part
of Adopt London South;
- That staff and funding (estimated at 8.5 FTE and a budget of
£559k) are transferred to Southwark who will be hosting Adopt
London South on behalf of ten South London boroughs;
- That the statutory and legal functions relating to adoption
services set out in Section 15(3) of the Education and Adoption Act
2016 be delegated to Southwark as host of the Regional Adoption
Agency Adopt London South; and
- That
authority is given to the Director of Early Help and
Children’s Social Care to finalise and agree the arrangements
including signing off the Inter-Authority Agreement between Croydon
and Southwark and any other legal and financial agreements in
consultation with the Cabinet Member for Children, Families &
Learning, Cabinet member for Finance and Resources, the Section 151
Officer and the Monitoring Officer.