‘There's no magic potion to get children from Oxfordshire care homes to living with family members’, warns councillor

The councillor who oversees Oxfordshire’s children’s services insists there is no "magic potion" that will see more children placed with extended family rather than into care settings.

Councillor Liz Brighouse OBE (Lab, Churchill & Lye Valley), deputy leader of Oxfordshire County Council and the cabinet member for children, education and young people’s services, was fielding a question over what work is being done to increase the volume of kinship carers in the region.

It is a live issue with the council acknowledging “insufficient placement availability for children we care for” as recently as March.

Kinship carers are family members or friends who take care of children on a full-time basis when they are unable to live with their parents.

Councillor Ian Corkin (Con, Ploughley) raised the issue of big variances in rates across the country and the UK’s far less favourable rate compared with other nations.

The council confirmed that 135 Oxfordshire children are in an approved kinship placement, around a sixth of the total in care.

Cllr Corkin said: “I am pleased that we are running mid-value.

“If we were at the top end of the spread in the UK we would have 204 children in kinship foster care, 69 more than currently, and if we were average against other developed nations around the world that would be 368 children, 233 more than we have at the moment.

“What work is in flight to increase the percentage of this important way of being able to look after our children?”

Cllr Brighouse replied: “This is the number where it has gone through the courts and been agreed.

"We have loads of children in this country who are looked after by grandparents and other members of the family for various reasons, particularly in some parts of Oxfordshire.

“We need to be really careful when we do international comparisons, that we are on the same playing field. The ones around Australia and New Zealand, these countries have very different legislation around childcare.

"Our childcare has our legislation and consequently, it is difficult to make international comparisons. I would certainly always guard against it because you always think there is maybe some magic potion there.

“When children are coming into care or likely to come into care, our social workers will work with the whole family, particularly grandparents and other members of the family. They will do what they can to keep the child close to the family and safe, the child’s safety comes before anything else and our social workers are doing that every day.

“I can tell you I am so proud of the way our social workers have worked through the pandemic and now in dealing with some of our most difficult children and young people.

“Children are best close to their families and close to home whether that is in education or being cared for. For me, that is something we really need to make sure is happening and I know that is what our social workers believe too.”