The extraordinary meeting of Barnet Council was called to discuss a motion regarding secrecy and failures in corporate parenting following the deaths of three care-experienced young people. The council agreed to strengthen briefing protocols for members and ensure that all corporate parents are immediately informed of any event involving looked-after young persons which may reasonably be expected to require an inquest. An amendment to the motion calling for the resignation of the Leader of the Council and the Cabinet Member for Family Friendly Barnet was rejected.

Corporate Parenting

The meeting was dominated by a discussion of the council's role as a corporate parent¹ to children in its care, and the recent deaths of three care-experienced young people. Councillor Peter Zinkin, Leader of the Conservative Group, moved a motion calling for the resignation of Councillor Barry Rawlings, Leader of the Council, and Councillor Pauline Coakley Webb, Cabinet Member for Family Friendly Barnet, citing a failure to honour the role of councillors as corporate parents and a serious omission in not submitting reviews of the cases and the first inquest to public scrutiny. The motion also called for an undertaking that all corporate parents be immediately informed of any event involving looked-after young persons which may reasonably be expected to require an inquest, and for reviews to be published and sent to the relevant scrutiny committee.

Councillor Coakley-Webb moved an amendment to the motion on behalf of Councillor Rawlings. She expressed sympathies to the families and friends of the young people who had died, and stated that lessons must be learned from these cases. She outlined improvements to practice that had been implemented since the death of Nanita, including audit activity, practitioner workshops, and placement reviews. She also addressed the issue of when members were informed, stating that the statutory duty is to notify Ofsted² and the Secretary of State, and that officers had gone further than the statutory duty by reporting the death of Nanita to the Corporate Parenting Panel on 10 January 2024, and informing the Children's Scrutiny Committee on 11 June 2025. Councillor Mark Shooter moved an amendment that would ensure that every elected member is confidentially informed immediately whenever a looked-after child suffers a serious incident. He stated that the tragedies took place under a system overseen directly by the Cabinet Member for Family Friendly Barnet, and that it was her responsibility to ensure leadership, that corporate parents were informed, that scrutiny was applied, and that safeguarding procedures were reliable and transparent.

Councillor Linda Lusingu spoke as an independent visitor for a children's charity, and criticised the motions for not going far enough. She said that they leave transparency conditional with no guarantee of full public disclosure, and that they ignore historic cases, offer no independent oversight, and fail to tackle the culture of secrecy that allow these deaths to be hidden from us, the corporate parents. She called for mandatory publication of all reviews, an independent inquiry, formal cross-party briefing protocols, and a permanent memorial in the chamber to remind councillors that these lives were not just a statistic, but a sacred responsibility.

Councillor Tony Vourou stated that the process for sharing information with members on deaths like these has been longstanding across multiple administrations and goes beyond the statutory duty. He welcomed the Cabinet's decision to strengthen briefing protocols for members of serious incidents.

Councillor David Longstaff highlighted that the Corporate Parenting Strategy 2024-27 states that the Corporate Parenting Officers Group reports into the Children and Education Overview and Scrutiny Subcommittee and the Corporate Parenting Advisory Panel, but that this never happened. He criticised the lack of information provided to councillors, stating, We are the Corporate Parents. We should have been informed of any serious incident that affects our corporate children.

Councillor Alison Moore, Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care and Health, reiterated that the loss of a young life is a tragedy, and that the council should ask hard questions about what went wrong and how this happened. She focused on the lessons learned around transition from children's to adult services and the role of wider partners, particularly mental health.

Councillor Lucy Wakeley focused on the issue of drug misuse amongst young people in care, stating that research shows that young people in care are at higher risk of developing addiction issues. She called for cross-party collaboration to understand what officers are already doing, what is being put in place, and what more can be done.

Councillor Sue Baker spoke about the complex issues faced by young people with an autistic spectrum disorder diagnosis, neurodiversity, and problematic mental health. She stated that the transition from children's to adult services is often complex, particularly in relation to the transition from CAMHS³ to adult mental health services. Councillor Rawlings stated that the coroner was satisfied with the learning that Barnet has taken, and that there was no need for a further report. He stated that learning lessons is most effectively done in an atmosphere of calm reflection, and not from knee-jerk reactions. He also pointed out that three Conservative councillors were informed of the third death before he was.

Councillor Zinkin stated that he was outraged by the use of the word sympathy by Labour speakers, and that the administration was incapable of understanding when things have gone wrong. He offered an apology on behalf of the corporate parents on his side of the council.

The amendment to the motion in the name of Councillor Shooter was lost. The amendment in the name of Councillor Rawlings was carried. The motion as amended by Councillor Rawlings was then carried.