Recommended –

That the minutes of the meeting held on 20 July 2022 be signed as a correct record (attached).

(Jill Bell – 01274 434580)

Resolved –

That the minutes of the meeting held on 20 July be signed as a correct record.

ACTION: Director of Legal and Governance

Amandip Johal explained that she had taken over from Philip Segurola as the person responsible for making sure that the Council was the best possible corporate parent for Bradford’s Looked After Young People.  She thanked the young people present for planning this session.  She gave feedback on the themes that had been identified by young people at the meeting on 08 June 2022:

(a)       Re-write the entitlements document in clearer language and with a flow chart and/or online interactive version so young people can easily see what they are entitled to.

2.    The entitlements document sets out the support that young people are entitled to as they leave care.  At the last meeting, young people asked that it be written more clearly.  The Council invited a number of young people to participate in a working group to help to ensure that the document set out all the information in a clear and user-friendly style.  The working group will also help to ensure that the information is presented clearly on the website.  The working group is due to start in the autumn and the document should be completed by April 2023.

(b)       Write a Bradford savings policy that is consistent across all care settings and clear about how much a young person will receive and how much control they have over saving or spending it.

3.    It became clear at the last meeting that Bradford Council did not have a savings policy.  A policy had now been written and is being finalised to reflect consultation: it should be signed off soon.

(c)        Clarify the draft Corporate Parenting Strategy priorities and language so they make sense to young people.

4.    The Corporate Parenting Strategy is a large document that sets out all the things that the Council will do as Corporate Parent to provide the best opportunities to enable Bradford’s Young people to achieve their aims in life.  At the last meeting, young people took an initial look at the document and asked that it be written more clearly.  The Council had worked in groups to review the text and make it more user-friendly.  It was now being finalised and was expected to be signed off shortly.

Young people, Panel members and officers split into two teams and undertook team-building activities led by Bradford Council’s Adventure Unit.  During these activities, participants answered questions as follows:

Question 1 – to young people: Who helps promote your health and wellbeing?  How do they help you?

Answers:

Myself

My carer

Talk to them

Advice

Help with healthy eating

Question 2 – to Panel members and officers: What does “healthy” mean to you?

Answers:          Active

                        Good nutrition

                        Regular and timely access to health services and advice

Opportunities to try out activities to see which suit you best (eg swimming, skating, riding bicycles or horses)

Knowing who to ask about crazy ideas (eg if you want to try bungee jumping, climbing a mountain etc) so we can sort it out for you

6.    The teams competed to transport balls from one end of the hall to the other using sections of guttering.  Team 1 won once and Team 2 won twice amid much laughter and dropping of balls.

The teams practised archery with the Adventure Unit staff and answered the questions as follows:

Question 3 – to young people: What does being healthy mean to you?

Answers:          Being able to take care of your body

Good fitness and good state of mind

Going on runs and exercising

Getting good sleep

Going shopping

Question 4 – to young people: What are your ideas to help improve the health and wellbeing of children in care and care leavers?

Answers:         Go cycling – three or four young people have a bike.  Have access to a bike and somewhere to store it.

Swimming - carers decide when to go.

Eat healthy food – fruit and veg is important.

Walking – it isn’t allowed to go walking alone.

Improve sleep.  Fresh bedding.  Hot shower and cold bed sheets.

Window open.

Listen to music.

Lavender watching table.

Carers help encourage a routine.

Being able to go for a walk

The Participation Officer reported that the young people present had asked that the Council take away the following priorities to work on and report back to the next meeting:

(a)   Young people in Bradford are entitled to free Bradford gym membership, but those who are placed outside Bradford for reasons beyond their control do not.  These young people would like to be supported to obtain gym membership. 

(b)   A wider range of access to activities to promote better physical and emotional health. Horse riding was discussed with the young people and they described the benefits to their wellbeing.

(c)   Young people understood that safeguarding concerns meant that they could not always go out by themselves, but they found this restrictive.  They would like a clearer understanding of the reasons for such restrictions and their scope; and for the Council and carers to consider more creative ways to keep them safe while giving them the space and alone-time that they needed for their emotional health, for example by facilitating activities further afield.

9.    Amandip Johal thanked young people for this helpful feedback, which she and her team would look into: they would give feedback at the next meeting, on 07 December 2022: the theme for that meeting would be Education.

10.  Amandip thanked young people for attending and contributing to this meeting, the Adventure Unit for running the activities and the Participation Unit for organising the event.