Agenda item

To receive the report of the Head of Legal and Democratic Services on any Notices of Motion received by him (Lilac pages). 

Councillors are asked to note that any Notices of Motion must be received by the Head of Legal and Democratic Services no later than noon on Thursday, 11 January 2018.

The Council had before it a Notice of Motion as set out in the agenda papers standing in the names of Mr T Baker-Price, Ms S A Webb, Mr A Stafford, and Mrs J A Potter.

The motion was moved by Mr T Baker-Price and seconded by Mrs J A Potter who both spoke in favour of it.

The Council agreed to deal with the motion on the day.

In the ensuing debate the following comments were made:

·         The Council Tax system locked too many care leavers into a cycle of debt and poverty. With two simple reforms, care leavers could be adequately supported to enable a successful transition into an independent life. Firstly, by exempting care leavers from Council Tax until they were 21 years old. Secondly, by adopting a transitional discount scheme from their 21st birthday to help further their independence and allow care leavers to develop at their own pace. The cost to the Council would be between £17-21k per annum which would likely be offset by savings in crisis intervention 

·         It was important to give children their best start in life. It was particularly difficult for care leavers faced with debt and financial difficulties. Any help that could ease that transition to adulthood should be supported

·         The Council's corporate parenting duty did not end at 18 years of age. The motion enhanced the prospects of care leavers and fulfilled the Council's duty of care for their welfare

·         The Chairman of the OSPB supported the motion because it would give care leavers the best start in life. However he was concerned that the Leader had raised the issue off the record with district council colleagues prior to full consideration by Council. He would ensure that the issue of out of county support for care leavers would be raised as part of the scrutiny process. In response, the Leader commented that he had raised the matter with district council leaders as a matter of courtesy only after the Council agenda papers had been published.

The following amendment was moved by Mr P M McDonald and Mr R M Udall:

"Addition to point 1:

… and invites those Councils to take part in a joint scrutiny exercise to ensure a Worcestershire wide scheme is agreed.

Inserts point 3:

3.    That the Council asks the Overview and Scrutiny Board to investigate ways to ensure care leavers who remain the responsibility of Worcestershire County Council who leave Worcestershire still receive financial help."

Those in favour of the amendment made the following comments:

·         The sentiment of the motion was supported but an amendment was proposed to ensure that the district councils and other councils were integrated into the process. It was hoped that the mover and seconder of the motion would support this amendment due to its non-political nature

·         The Children and Social Work Act 2017 placed a duty on district councils to support care leavers. Unfortunately it did not include any details of how this should be achieved. There was at least one district council in the county who had not adopted this motion therefore the amendment was necessary

·         The Council had a legal duty for certain care leavers when they moved out of county up to the age of 25. The aim of the amendment was to ensure that the funding followed those care leavers and provided equity in provision for care leavers through partnership working with other councils

·         The amendment was intended to enhance the original motion. It was aimed at embarrassing those district councils who had not adopted the motion.

Those against the amendment made the following comments:

·         The mover of the motion rejected the amendment on the grounds that Wychavon and Wyre Forest District Councils were already leading the way in supporting care leavers. The OSPB exercise would be too little too late and would delay support for care leavers

·         The Cabinet Member for Children and Families commented that this was an issue that had been raised by representatives of care leavers themselves and underlined the Council's commitment as corporate parents. However the proposed amendment could be seen by care leavers as an unnecessary delay

·         The Leader commented that he had already and would continue to discuss the motion with district council leaders. There were understandable concerns about the financial implications, but these were minimal. OSPB could look at the matter at any time, it did not require a mandate from Council and it was unnecessary to delay matters by formally requesting their input.

On being put to the vote, the amendment was lost.

On being put to the vote the original motion was unanimously agreed.

Council RESOLVED "This Council recognises the challenges young people face transitioning out of the care system into adulthood.  Research from The Centre for Social Justice found that 57% of young people leaving care have difficulty managing their money and avoiding debt when leaving care.

This Council aspires to champion the children and young people in its care, enabling them to have the best possible outcomes. To improve outcomes for Care leavers this Council believes the cliff edge of the current council tax system needs to be reformed to help Worcestershire's young people transition into an independent and successful adult life.

This Council believes care leavers are a particularly vulnerable group for council tax debt.

The Children and Social Work Act 2017 places corporate parenting responsibilities on district councils for the first time, requiring them to have regard to children in care and care leavers when carrying out their functions.

This Council resolves to underline its commitment to corporate parenting and improving outcomes and requests Worcestershire’s six council tax billing authorities to support the transition of care leavers who become council tax payers by:

1.    Reducing their net liability for council tax under the national scheme and after council tax support to zero, until the care leaver’s 21st birthday.

2.    Introducing a transitional discretionary discount scheme to enable a reduction of liability for council tax up to and including zero from their 21st birthday until the care leaver's 25th birthday."