Most of us were fortunate enough to grow up in a safe and loving family but not all of us were, and sadly this reality continues today.  The importance of supporting children who are vulnerable can never be understated.

Children’s services are provided by the upper tier local authority in two-tier local authority areas, which for us is West Sussex County Council.  Social care for children is a challenging sector but one that I’m pleased to say there is a very positive direction of travel at the County Council, evidenced by the last Ofsted Inspection of Children’s Services which reported in the autumn.

In their findings, Ofsted found both evidence of and a clear vision for ongoing improvement as well as strong corporate and political support to improve practices. The County Council’s Children’s Services actively support more than 5,500 vulnerable children and young people across West Sussex, including of course many here in Crawley.  Ofsted also highlighted that the national challenges of recruitment of social workers had an impact here as it does elsewhere.  I’m pleased to say there has subsequently been good news with additional investment for recruitment in West Sussex, resulting in many new recruits.

However, long term challenges remain and last week the Conservative Government announced ambitious reforms to children’s social care.  These reforms seek to get families the early help they need, integrate our child protection systems, provide better support for foster and kinship carers, better support care leavers, plus hiring more social workers.  

We know that young adults leaving care face greater disadvantages, so it is vital their opportunities are improved.  The government increasing the Care Leaver’s grant from £2,000 to £3,000 and tripling the Care Leaver’s apprenticeship bursaries to £3,000 is very welcome indeed.

Additionally, we’ll see the largest government investment in foster carers and kinship carers in recent history with £9 million for kinship care training and £25 million into foster carer recruitment and retention, as well as providing an above-inflation increase (12.4%) to the foster carer national minimum allowance.  We must ensure that all children can get the best start in life.

Councillor Duncan Crow, Leader of Crawley Borough Council Conservative Group

8th February 2023