Management Information Sheet

The Care Matters White Paper issued in 2007 and the subsequent Act in 2008 set out an ambitious programme of change to improve the outcomes of Children in Care. As part of this process the DCSF undertook to review progress annually, and to produce a report. The first of these reports has now been completed, and is available via the weblink.
The report identifies progress made, the views of Children and Young People and outlines future priorities.

In addition to the report the Secretary of State (Ed Balls) has written a letter to all children in care to tell them about what the Government is doing to improve the care that they receive. He has requested that Local Authorities distribute a copy of his letter to all looked after children in their care. To view a copy of the letter click here. This is for your information so that when each looked after child receives their letter, and they may raise questions or talk about it with you, you are in a position to have firsthand knowledge of its contents and be able to respond with an understanding of the issues.

As an authority we intend to disseminate the letters in the following way:

	We are of the opinion that just sending the letter to each looked after child/ young person would not be beneficial as there will be looked after children with learning difficulties or low reading ages, who would not be able to fully understand its contents. Also the reading age of the letter would not be suitable for all ages of looked after children. In addition some children may have concerns about various issues in the letter.
	To overcome the above issues, we are proposing that each look after child's social worker takes responsibility for giving the letter to the looked after child, or by agreement with the primary carer to go through the letter with them. In addition we will produce some guidance points on the issues raised in the Secretary of State's letter from the Norfolk perspective to help the looked after child understand what we are doing.
	By undertaking the above strategy we can also collate what the children and young people say and feel about the issues raised which will in turn feed into future priorities and strategies for looked after children.
	As each looked after child is visited within two months by their social worker we will be spreading this exercise over that timescale.

If schools/ designated persons for looked after children have any comments about either the Ministerial Stocktake document, the Secretary of State's letter or for the proposed Norfolk strategy for disseminating the letter, please could you contact Terry Cook, Headteacher for the Virtual School for Children in Care on 01603 433276 Ext 178 terry.cook@norfolk.gov.uk.