Local Authority Engagement
At the heart of the Care Leaver Covenant is close collaboration with local authorities who are statutorily responsible for the wellbeing of our care leavers.
Whole Council Approach
‘Whole Council Approach’ is the strategic idea that responsibility for being a corporate parent sits across the whole council and not only with those people and departments that have ‘care leaver’ in their job descriptions.
We launched the Whole Council Approach at the SOLACE Conference in 2019. Some of the key tenets are below and you can view the Full Strategy Document and the Whole Council Summary Document.
“I’m delighted to be the first local authority champion of the Care Leaver Covenant … the social value toolkit is a real attempt to get a cross council intergrated response from not just the children’s services, but planning procurement and wider initiatives within the business community.”
Mark Rogers (picture above) – Former Chief Executive Birmingham City Council & Care Leaver Champion
The 5 Part Strategy
01. Raising Awareness of the Covenant
02. Council Tax Exemption
03. Training and Employment Opportunities
04. Social Value Policy
05. Economic Development
The Next Step
Get involved and collaborate with the Covenant.
We would encourage all local authorities to adopt as many elements of the strategy as possible to support their care leavers in the best way possible.
As a minimum we ask that all LAs act on Point 1 below, which involves raising awareness of the Covenant with all staff who work with care leavers and with care leavers themselves. In particular, we encourage sign-up to Connects.
For more information and support, email localgov@mycovenant.org.uk
Connects
Ensure all personal advisors are signed up to Connects!
Signing up is quick and easy, and it ensures that you, and the young people you work with, stay up-to-date with the latest work, education and recreational opportunities. By registering, your team can directly support care leavers to access the offers and resources available to them.
Don’t miss this simple step to make a real difference – sign up today!
Social Value Toolkit
This toolkit is designed to assist councils adopt a “whole council approach”.
To include their executive officers, social services, community investment, health, housing, corporate services and their procurement teams in the creation of social value objectives, many of which can be aligned with the core outputs of the Care Leaver Covenant, and which can be secured through their procurement processes.
In particular, the toolkit seeks to provide guidance and example wording which councils can use and adapt to encourage bidders to incorporate social value initiatives into their bids which will help to achieve the core outcomes of the Care Leaver Covenant.
Guidance for Virtual School Heads
Connecting care-experienced young people to opportunities.
The Care Leaver Covenant works closely with Virtual School Heads to help bridge the gap between education and adulthood for care-experienced young people.
By connecting Virtual Schools to a network of opportunities, resources, and employer commitments, we support them in creating meaningful next steps for the young people they work with.
We’ve developed tailored guidance for Virtual School Heads on how to connect care-experienced young people with opportunities through the Care Leaver Covenant.
Access the full guidance for Virtual School Heads PDF here.
Local Authorities Partners
At the heart of the Care Leaver Covenant is strong collaboration with local authorities, who have a statutory duty to support, protect, and empower care leavers.
The Covenant’s signatory network of opportunities is specifically designed to enhance the local authority statutory offer, ensuring young people have access to additional resources, experiences, and support beyond the minimum legal requirements.
More than 100 local authorities have signed up to the Care Leaver Covenant as partners, achieving improved outcomes for care leavers and making full use of tools such as the Social Value Toolkit to maximise opportunities for their young people.
The Next Step
Get involved and collaborate with the Covenant.
We would encourage all local authorities to adopt as many elements of the strategy as possible to support their care leavers in the best way possible.
As a minimum we ask that all LAs act on Point 1 of the 5-Part Strategy above, which involves raising awareness of the Covenant with all staff who work with care leavers, and with care leavers themselves. In particular encouragement to sign up to Connects.
For more information and support, email localgov@mycovenant.org.uk
Our Local Authorities Partners Are:
- Barking and Dagenham
- Barnet
- Bath and North East Somerset
- Bexley
- Birmingham (Children's Trust)
- Blackburn
- Blackpool
- Bolton
- Bracknell Forest
- Brighton & Hove
- Bristol
- Bromley
- Bury
- Cambridegshire
- Central Bedfordshire
- Cheshire East
- Cheshire West and Chester
- City of London
- Cornwall
- Coventry
- Croydon
- Derby (EMCA)
- Devon
- Doncaster
- Dorset
- Dudley
- Durham
- East Riding of Yorkshire
- East Sussex
- Enfield
- Essex
- Gateshead
- Gloucestershire
- Hackney
- Halton
- Hammersmith and Fulham
- Haringey
- Herefordshire
- Hounslow
- Hull
- Islington
- Kent
- Kingston upon Thames
- Kirklees
- Lambeth
- Lancashire
- Leeds
- Lewisham
- Liverpool City Council
- Luton
- Manchester
- Medway
- Merton
- Middlesbrough
- Newcastle-upon-Tyne
- Norfolk
- North Northamptonshire
- North Somerset
- North Tyneside
- Northumberland
- Nottingham City (EMCA)
- Nottinghamshire (EMCA)
- Oldham
- Oxfordshire
- Peterborough
- Plymouth
- Portsmouth City Council
- Reading
- Redbridge
- Redcar and Cleveland
- Richmond upon Thames
- Rochdale
- Salford
- Sandwell (Children's Trust)
- Sefton
- Sheffield
- Shropshire
- Slough
- Solihull
- Somerset
- South Gloucestershire
- South Tyneside
- Southampton
- Southend-on-Sea
- St Helens
- Staffordshire
- Stockport
- Stockton-on-Tees
- Stoke-on-Trent
- Suffolk
- Suffolk
- Sunderland
- Surrey
- Sutton
- Telford & Wrekin
- Thurrock
- Tower Hamlets
- Walsall
- Warwickshire
- West Berkshire
- West Morland and Furness
- West Northamptonshire
- West Sussex
- Wiltshire
- Windsor & Maidenhead
- Wirral
- Wolverhampton
- Worcestershire