I had a lovely few days off over Easter and came back to work feeling refreshed.
I attended (virtually) the Chair’s regional meeting of Police and Crime Panels this month. We use this informal space to talk about how our panels are running, any issues we are struggling with, and to share best practice.
I also chaired the Leicestershire Safer Communities Strategy Board. This meeting is webcast and includes all the district councils in Leicestershire and Rutland County Council.
I was invited to the Leicestershire Equalities Challenge Group on Wednesday 27th March, to speak to them about Leicestershire County Council supporting the motion to treat Care Experienced young people as a protected characteristic. They were extremely interested in the work that I had personally done on this subject, and they were delighted to have a care experienced young person attend with us to listen to his personal experience.
On Tuesday 2nd April, Craig Smith and I, my Cabinet Support Member, were warmly welcomed to Brockington College to see for ourselves how they deliver the Holiday Activities and Food (HAF) programme for our children. We had a fantastic morning with all the children.
The children taught us how to do archery and dodgeball. I also joined in the girl's football session. There were over 130 children there on the day and they were all very well-behaved and we had an amazing time there over the Easter Holidays.
LCC Efficiency
New data shows that Leicestershire remains one of the top performing county councils in the country. Detailed research, using more than 250 different measures ranging from adult social care, public health, and environment to schools, ranks the authority third for overall performance, despite continuing to be the lowest funded county in the UK.
The comparison against 31 upper-tier and county unitary areas places the authority second for adult social care delivery, second for highways and transport and fourth for school quality & access.
Family Hubs
On Monday 18th March, I attended my second Family Hub Conference and spent the day with colleagues looking at the past year's work and what we have planned for the next year (www.familyhubsleicestershire.org.uk/). Our Family Hubs have gone from strength to strength, and I was delighted to open our penultimate hub at Mountfields in Loughborough on April 4th.
Fostering and Adoption
Payment and allowance benefits for foster carers in Leicestershire have risen by nearly 7% as the county looks for carers with skills and dedication.
Following a 6.88% rise in the National Minimum Allowance for foster carers in England, the minimum weekly allowance for a foster carer has increased to £170 per week, with the maximum weekly allowance going up to £249 per week*.
Additional weekly skill fees, paid in recognition of carers’ skills, experience, and dedication to continuous learning and development, have also increased.
With 733** children and young people in care, Leicestershire County Council urgently needs new foster carers to provide a loving, safe, and supportive home for children and young people in care. Most in-house foster carers can get a tax-free allowance of £18,400 p.a. and also access further payments, including clothing and school uniform allowances, birthday and holiday allowances, and festival allowances.
*Minimum and maximum payments depend on the age of the child or young person being cared for and are designed to cover the basic cost of caring for them.
**figures correct as of April 2024.
We are also looking for Specialist Foster Carers.
An urgent appeal has been launched for people with professional backgrounds in caregiving to find out more about becoming specialist foster carers.
From April, Leicestershire County Council is offering up to £1,067 a week, plus allowances, for the role which provides children and young people with an alternative to residential care.
Information events are being held over the coming weeks in a bid to share information about the role and recruit carers for the 60+ children and young people in need of specialist support in the county.
Suitable experience could include teaching, health care or policing, as well as other positions that support children and young people with special educational needs or disabilities (SEND), or complex behavioural or emotional needs.
Those wanting to find out more about specialist fostering with Leicestershire County Council can visit the website: https://www.leicestershire.gov.uk/education-and-children/fostering/specialist-foster-care-roles
Alternatively, you can email the Fostering Team at [email protected] or call them on 0116 305 0505.
Adoption
People interested in starting their adoption journey are encouraged to attend one of our virtual 'Find out about Adoption' events.
The team will provide an opportunity for people to find out more about the application process and the support available to adopt these amazing children waiting for a new home.
Attendees will also have the opportunity to hear from those who have previously adopted and ask them and the team any questions that they may have.
We are searching for forever families for over 50 children in Leicestershire, the majority of whom are under three years old.
Those wanting to attend a virtual ‘Find out about Adoption’ event can email [email protected] and a member of our team will be in touch with further details.
Improving Nature
Two surveys have been launched to capture a wide range of views, ideas, and suggestions on how nature can be improved.
Residents are being asked for their priorities to help shape an ambitious new nature strategy for Leicestershire, Leicester, and Rutland.
The Local Nature Recovery Strategy will help to protect nature and allow it to recover by preserving and improving habitats and biodiversity.
Leicestershire County Council has been appointed as the ‘responsible authority’ to lead the development of the strategy, working closely with the other local authorities, key stakeholders in land management, and the Department of Environment, Farming and Rural Affairs (Defra).
The strategy will identify locations to create or improve habitat and to provide the greatest benefit for nature and the wider environment. Two separate ‘Making Space for Nature’ surveys for the public and organisations have been launched to capture a wide range of views, ideas, and suggestions on how nature can be improved and helped to recover across the area.
The surveys can be found on our website and the surveys close on the 28th April:
‘Green’ Bus Funding
Greener, cleaner journeys on key bus routes in Leicestershire will now be in the offing following a successful County Council and bus operators’ bid for Government funding.
The £8.1m slice of the £129m Government cash pot will help buy electric buses and chargers, cutting carbon emissions.
Bus operators Kinchbus and Arriva have worked with the County Council on the proposal, emphasising the role of the Leicestershire Enhanced Bus Partnership, which fosters stronger links between the local authority and bus operators.
The emission-free buses will run on several routes focusing on Loughborough, including Kinchbus 2, 5, 9, 11, 12, Sprint and the Campus Shuttle as well as Arriva’s 127 service to Shepshed and Leicester.
This ‘ZEBRA 2’ funding follows a £7.63m funding award to the county council, combining Bus Service Improvement Plan Plus (BSIP+) and Network North funding - Network North being the £36bn transport plan which replaces HS2 in the north.
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