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Cabinet Member for Children, Young People and Families

Councillor Karen McCarthy

The Cabinet Member has accountability for:

  • Lead Member for Children’s Services (LMCS): Political accountability for all the local authority children’s services, including education and social care.

This post is required by law to hold direct local accountability for the effectiveness, availability and value for money of the local authority’s children’s services (particularly education and children’s social care).

  • Safeguarding children and young people: With statutory partners, the safety and wellbeing of all children.
  • Children’s services: Leadership, strategy and effectiveness of children’s services – responding to the needs of all children and young people, especially the most disadvantaged and vulnerable, and their families and carers.
  • Overseeing the Children’s Trust: Oversight of the ‘client side’ role of the Children’s Trust to ensure the delivery of agreed outcomes, KPIs and finances within the legal and contractual framework agreed.
  • Overseeing Early Years: Ensuring a sufficiency of places and a citywide Early Years Health and Wellbeing offer.
  • Corporate parenting: Political leadership on improving the lives of looked after children. Ensuring all council members, officers and services understand and actively promote the council’s responsibilities to looked after children.
  • Lead member for Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) and Inclusion: Lead member on the SEND agenda across children’s agencies, and holding officers and partners to account for the delivery of the Birmingham SEND Strategy.
  • Education of children and young people: Political leadership on strategic and statutory duties, including school improvement, school places and travel to and from school. Oversight of Dedicated School’s Grant.
  • Youth engagement and youth service: Youth engagement and youth service, along with Lifelong Learning (post 14 skills and adult education. Clear progression and vocational pathways from education into further and higher education and employment. Provision of all-age guidance, skills development, training and work experience to meet the economic needs of the city now and in the future.
  • Skills and entrepreneurship in schools: Development of 14 to 19 career pathways, enterprise and entrepreneurship in Birmingham schools.
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