Stockton Liberal Democrats response to Labour's Motion
Last night (Dec 15th) Stockton Council considered a motion, proposed by Labour councillors, on the subject of the Corporate Parenting responsibilities which all councillors have towards the children who are in the care of the Local Authority. The full wording of the motion is given below*.
Liberal Democrat Councillor Julia Cherrett has always been, and continues to be, very supportive of the young people in the care of the authority but had concerns about the wording of the part of the motion underlined below. She says:
"I felt that agreeing this motion could be seen to fetter the discretion of members at any future planning meeting to decide on change of use of domestic properties to Children's homes. The motion did not address the responsibilities of the young people towards the communities in which they live. Being a corporate parent means that a councillor should be honest about any adverse impact from bad behaviour, just as we would about our own family and friends. This is part of the duty of care of any parent.
I tried to check with legal officers in the council whether the motion would cause difficulties in planning applications where councillors are legally bound to approach applications with an open mind, but could not obtain satisfactory answers from them in time for the meeting.
Consequently I decided to abstain from voting as I did not have the information needed to make a fully informed choice about the motion.
I would never say or do anything to damage a child's life chances, whether they are related to me or not. But without legal advice to the contrary I could not fully support the notion that my duty as corporate parent overrides every other responsibility as a councillor. I believe that councillors must sometimes make hard decisions for themselves about where the balance of their duties lies."
*The wording of the council agenda item is as follows:
To consider the following motion which has been submitted in accordance with Council Procedure Rule 12.1 by Councillor Paul Rowling and Councillor Carol Clark:-
This Council recognises that all councillors are Corporate Parents to all children and young people in the care of Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council. We note our special responsibility for those in our care and take seriously our role in championing their needs and protecting them from harm.
All councillors share corporate parenting responsibilities and cannot abdicate this in favour of those responsibilities that they might deem more important.
We particularly call on councillors to re-affirm our commitment to the following principles:
• Councillors should challenge prejudice towards our looked after children and protect them from negativity by those who would seek to misinform.
• Councillors should champion and represent our looked after children's interests, ensuring they are treated the same as all other children, mirroring how you would treat your own or children who are close to you.
• Councillors will not make any adverse comments about any of our looked after children or their circumstances without considering the challenges that they may face in their lives.
• Councillors should always treat all of our children as individuals. We should never stereotype or generalise.
This Council congratulates our children and young people, many of whom have not had the best start in life, for their continued success and pay tribute to their determination to succeed which is demonstrated each day.
As councillors we should continue to support and encourage our children and young people and do all we can to help them achieve their aspirations. We should play our role to welcome them and make them feel part of the local community.