The Corporate Parenting Board met on Wednesday 19 November 2025 to discuss the Fostering Transformation Plan and the Children's Celebration event. The Board also reviewed its work plan.

Fostering Transformation Plan

The Board received a presentation on the Worcestershire Fostering Transformation Plan, which aims to improve recruitment, assessment, and support for both mainstream and kinship fostering. Councillor Justin Bowen, Cabinet Member with Responsibility for Children and Families, championed these improvements, stating, Everything works together, and it all flows from this initial investment. The reality is we can't afford not to make these changes.

The plan introduces several key changes designed to benefit foster carers and, consequently, the children and young people in their care. These include:

• New Dedicated Teams: The creation of a Mainstream Fostering Recruitment, Retention & Assessment Team to streamline the process from enquiry to approval, and a Mainstream Care & Support Team to provide consistent, responsive support. For kinship care, a Kinship Assessment Team and a Kinship Care & Support Team have been established to meet growing demand and ensure readiness for forthcoming government reforms.
• Improved Foster Care Offer: This includes introducing a fostering no-detriment policy for kinship and connected carers who become Special Guardians, uplifting fostering fees to be more competitive, and launching the Bring Our Children Home campaign to attract more carers.
• Children's Savings Policy Review: The council is reviewing its policy to potentially deduct age-banded savings at source from the weekly fostering allowance, aiming to remove barriers for carers opening bank accounts for children in their care.
• Accelerated Progression: Foster carers will experience faster progression through the Payment for Skills Levels, with opportunities to reach Level 2 after 18 months and Level 3 after three years.

The proposed outcomes of this transformation include increased capacity for fostering, improved recruitment and retention, cost avoidance through reduced reliance on external placements, workforce resilience, and ultimately, stronger outcomes for children with more stable placements closer to home.

Children's Celebration Event

A verbal report was provided on the Children's Celebration event.

Work Plan

The Board reviewed its future work programme. Items to be added to the work plan include the Fostering Transformation Plan for the meeting on 19 November, a presentation on the Anchor Service for 27 January 2026, and the CPB Annual Report and feedback on Time-out cards for 7 May 2026.

Any Other Business

During the Any Other Business section, Skylar was congratulated for completing the Worcester 10km run in a record time.