As chief executive of a large local
authority that has set itself the even larger ambition of being ‘the best council
in the best city in the UK’, I'm often challenged about what we mean by 'the
best'. We're not talking about one single measure, or some league table.
But the challenge is a fair one, and we've put our cards on the table in the
form of our 'best council plan'. This has six big themes where we will change
how we work - and become the best. Among these themes is our ambition for Leeds
to be a truly child-friendly city...somewhere young people enjoy growing up,
and achieve their full potential.
As we say in our plan, "Leeds has
historically had higher numbers of children looked after than similar cities
with the significant social and financial cost implications that are associated
with this. Therefore, we are aiming to safely reduce the numbers of children
looked after by implementing a comprehensive programme of actions". And we
are already making progress. For example, one of those actions is to work with
organisations and communities across the city to encourage and support more
families to become foster carers.
In the current economic climate, there is an
obvious financial driver for doing this. I'm just as interested, though, in the
social benefits because I spent a few short spells in care myself as a child. I
know, from personal experience, how a network of support around families and
children is vital to provide the right outcomes.
What happened to my family - difficult times
and illness - could affect any family at any time. Without the support of
children's services and the care of my gran (who later moved in to live with
us) my life could have turned out very differently.
My experience gave me an insight into what
it means to be a foster carer and the commitment, skills and values this
requires. In my role at the council it can't help but colour my support for all
the work children's services does. Being in a position of influence I have been
able to oversee the growth of partnerships within the city which can really
benefit looked after children. A good example of this is the work with Leeds
Rhinos and Leeds United who are both providing rewards, such as free match
tickets, for existing foster families and working with teams in the council to
recruit more foster carers. We're matching this with free or discounted access
to our own gyms, pools and leisure activities.
As a leading employer in Leeds, we are also
showing how employers in the city make provision for those who choose to foster
or adopt by making carer-friendly HR policies and making allowances for people
to attend the meetings and training they need to in order to become carers.
We've still got lots of work to do in Leeds,
especially in making sure people coming out of care get the right opportunities
and support. This mixture of changing how we do things, influencing
businesses and involving people and communities is how we are trying to do more
for less. It's an approach we call 'civic enterprise'. I believe it will help
the council and the city achieve our rather bold ambitions, but more
importantly I know it will help other children and young people come through
difficult times and succeed.