Issue - meetings

Officer: Philip Segurola

Key decision: Yes

The Leader of the Council delegated to the Cabinet the power to make the decisions set out below

RESOLVED to agree

1. That Croydon enter into regional adoption arrangements as part of Adopt London South;

2. 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;

3. 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

4. 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.

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

1. That Croydon enter into regional adoption arrangements as part of Adopt London South;

2. 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;

3. 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

4. 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.