Issue - meetings

Report of the Deputy Chief Officer – Head of Children’s Health and Wellbeing (CS/22/9) seeking approval to adopt a Fostering Friendly Employer policy to support Council employees who are foster carers, attached.

The full wording of the proposed policy was attached as Appendix 1.

RESOLVED that the Fostering Friendly Employer policy which supports Devon County Council employees who are also foster carers, be endorsed and adopted.

(Councillors Whitton and Wrigley attended in accordance with Standing Order 25(2) and spoke to this item).

The Cabinet considered the Report of the Head of Children’s Health and Wellbeing (CS/22/9) which sought approval to adopt a Fostering Friendly Employer policy to support Council employees who were foster carers, circulated prior to the meeting in accordance with regulation 7(4) of the Local Authorities (Executive Arrangements) (Meetings and Access to Information) (England) Regulations 2012.

The Council was responsible, as a corporate parent, for children who became cared for by the local authority.  In Devon, as nationally, there was a shortage of suitable foster carers for children who needed a foster home, and the Council had a duty to provide a sufficient number and range of foster carers to meet children’s needs. Recruiting more foster carers was a high priority in the Improvement plan. 

Fostering Friendly policies were adopted by employers to support employees who were also foster carers and included a range of support. Other employers, such as Tesco and O2, as well as neighbouring local authorities, and the Council’s improvement partner Leeds City Council, had already adopted Fostering Friendly Employer policies. 

The draft Fostering Friendly Employer policy, attached at Appendix 1, met the requirements of the Fostering Network, which was a national body promoting the importance of foster care, and would support employees who were already employed by the Council, or employees who may wish to consider becoming foster carers. 

The draft Fostering Friendly Employer policy required managers to adopt a flexible and accommodating approach to requests for flexible working arrangements. In addition, there was paid time off for fostering preparation and assessment processes.   

Currently there were fewer than five Council employees who were foster carers for Devon. The financial impact of adopting the policy was small and would be funded from the current placements budget.

The matter having been debated and the options and/or alternatives and other relevant factors (e.g. financial, risk management, equality and legal considerations) as set out in the Head of Service’s Report and/or referred to above having been considered:

it was MOVED by Councillor Leadbetter, SECONDED by Councillor Hart, and

RESOLVED that the Fostering Friendly Employer policy which supports Devon County Council employees who are also foster carers, be endorsed and adopted.