The Corporate Parenting Group of Lewisham Council was scheduled to meet on 17 June 2025 to discuss a refresh of the Corporate Parenting Strategy, updates from the Fostering Advisory Board and Health Leads, the Virtual School's annual report, and employment and training for care leavers. Some of the meeting was scheduled to be held in private.

Corporate Parenting Strategy

A refresh of the Corporate Parenting Strategy for 2025-27 was scheduled to be discussed. The strategy outlines how Lewisham Council cares for children in care and care leavers¹. The council has a legal responsibility to safeguard and promote the wellbeing of children in care.

The refreshed strategy was scheduled to include:

• Priorities for 2025-27
• Successes from 2022-25
• An overview of children in care in Lewisham
• How the strategy will be implemented and monitored.

The priorities for 2025-27 were scheduled to focus on:

• Ensuring children in care live in stable homes
• Improving the educational outcomes of children in care
• Supporting care leavers to live independently

The report pack noted some successes of the 2022-25 strategy, including:

• A reduction in the number of children in care
• An increase in the number of children in care achieving good educational outcomes
• An increase in the number of care leavers in employment, education or training

The report pack also included data on the number of children in care in Lewisham, their ages, ethnicities, and where they live.

Education, Training and Employment (ETE) for Care Leavers

The Corporate Parenting Group was scheduled to discuss a report on Education, Training and Employment (ETE) for care leavers, provided by Lewisham Works. Lewisham Works is the council's employment and skills service.

The report pack included information on:

• The number of care leavers in Lewisham who are in ETE
• The types of ETE that care leavers are accessing
• The barriers that care leavers face in accessing ETE
• The support that Lewisham Works provides to care leavers

The report pack also included a number of recommendations for improving ETE outcomes for care leavers.

Health Leads Report and CAMHS Reports

The Corporate Parenting Group was scheduled to receive updates on health-related matters. This included a Health Leads Report Update and a verbal update on the CAMHS² / Orbit Report.

Virtual School Annual Report

The Corporate Parenting Group was scheduled to discuss the Virtual School's annual report. The Virtual School is responsible for tracking the educational progress of children in care.

Fostering Advisory Board

Reps were scheduled to provide a verbal update on the work of the Fostering Advisory Board.

Exclusion of Press and Public

The report pack included a recommendation to exclude the press and public from the meeting for any items of business classified as Part 2, because they involved the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in the Local Government Act 1972.

Declarations of Interest

The report pack included guidance for councillors about declaring any personal interests they have in any item on the agenda.