Council celebrates latest Beacon Status award
South Gloucestershire Council is celebrating after it was awarded a prestigious national accolade for the way it helps children and young people in care.
The council received Beacon Status in the ‘Care Matters: Improving the Outcomes for Children in Care’ category at a special Oscar-style event hosted last night in London. The award was presented by Jim Knight, Minister for School and Learners.
Councils are awarded Beacon status for the expertise they have gained in a particular area and this knowledge is then shared with other councils for them to learn from.
South Gloucestershire was praised for the work it has done in looking after children and young people in care, including taking a well-led ‘corporate parenting’ approach to providing services, whereby councillors, officers and partner organisations take collective responsibility for providing the best possible care.
Some of these services include the introduction of an innovative scheme to provide work experience and guidance on college courses and taking part in a national pilot scheme to ensure young people have a voice in decisions about their care if they are over 16 but are not yet ready to live independently. The involvement of children and young people themselves in shaping services was also commended.
Sheila Cook, executive member for children and young people, said: “I am absolutely delighted that the council has been awarded Beacon status for the way we look after and support children and young people in care.
“We take our responsibilities as corporate parents very seriously and we have introduced a number of innovative schemes to give youngsters in our care the best possible start in life, which reflect South Gloucestershire’s growing reputation as a national leader in this area.”
Councillor Cook added: “The award recognises the dedication and expertise of members, officers and partner organisations working together and is an achievement to be very proud of.”
The awards ceremony was attended by members, officers and youngsters in the care of the council.
Communities and Local Government minister Parmjit Dhanda said: “I would like to congratulate South Gloucestershire for being awarded Beacon Status in Care Matters: Improving the Outcomes for Children in Care. This authority is leading the way in their use of new ideas and methods, and is ideally placed to drive change through the sector, helping to improve services for everyone.
“The most important product of the Beacons is the real improvements to everyday public services that can be seen in the remit of every one of the winning authorities, and the sharing of new ideas and best practice that the Beacons promote will lead to improvement across the board.”
The council is becoming a national leader in the way it supports children in care. As well as being awarded Beacon status, the council is taking part in a three-year £6m Government pilot project – Right2BCared4 – which is looking into the best ways of providing care to looked after children after the age of 16 if they are not ready yet to live independently. Approximately 70 young people are looked after by the council each year to whom the pilot will be relevant.
The council has developed several pioneering schemes to help young people it is responsible for, including ‘Young Recruiter,’ which offers training for young people in interview skills, and then allows them to sit on an interview panel for frontline staff that are going to work with children. Another scheme is a summer work placement called ‘What Next?’ which helps to prepare young people for work, or to help them choose college courses wisely.
The council’s fostering service was rated as ‘outstanding’ by the Commission for Social Care Inspection in 2008, and the educational achievements of young people in the care of the council are among the best in the country.
Further Information
If you would like to find out more about how South Gloucestershire has developed services for children in care, please contact Nigel Shipley, Beacon Coordinator (Telephone: 01454 865939, e-mail: nigel.shipley@southglos.gov.uk).
South Gloucestershire, and Leicester City (who also gained Beacon status for Care Matters) will take part an IDeA Learning Exchange on 17th September 2008. This event will be attended by a high profile keynote speaker and will provide:
- Practical tips for service improvement
- Interactive workshops on the successful approaches of the beacons
- Details of future activities such as open days and other support activities organized by the beacons
- Opportunities to network and share experiences
- Information on other improvement initiatives from the IDeA.
For more information on this event and to book a place please follow the link under "Other Websites" on the right side of this page.