Councillors in County Durham will be asked to support a three-year plan aimed at ensuring the needs of children in care continue to be met.
A report to Durham County Council’s Cabinet will set out how the authority will work with partners to ensure that children in the council’s care – including those in foster care – and young people leaving care receive the services and support they need.
The Commissioning Strategy for Looked After Children 2012-15 will guide how the £1.5m allocated to the service through the authority’s Medium Term Financial Plan is spent.
The strategy has already been described as “strong” by Ofsted following an inspection of safeguarding and looked after services in December 2011.
Cllr Claire Vasey, Durham County Council’s Cabinet member for children and young people’s services, said: “The three-year strategy sets out how we will plan and provide support and services to safeguard children and young people over the next three years. Safeguarding was one of the three main areas of the council’s work that members of the public said they wanted to see protected when we consulted on budget proposals
“With the number of looked after children increasing both locally and nationally, the need to identify and deliver an appropriate range of services has become increasingly important.
“The fact the strategy has been praised following evaluation by Ofsted again indicates the strength of our work and our vision in this important area.”
The strategy outlines the council’s vision for commissioning improved services and also looks at current services and their effectiveness and identifies any gaps in provision.
It sets out five priorities for the commissioning of services in the future and outlines a set of actions for each.
Cabinet will meet next Wednesday (29 February) at County Hall, Durham.