Independent Fostering Panel Chair

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Independent Fostering Panel Chair

The Children, Lifelong Learning and Families Division is responsible for ensuring the safety, wellbeing and positive outcomes of children, young people and their families in the London Borough of Merton.

Within Corporate Parenting, we are committed to ensuring that children in care experience safe, stable and nurturing homes where they can thrive, feel a sense of belonging and achieve their full potential. We work in partnership across services to continuously improve outcomes, strengthen placement sufficiency and ensure high-quality care planning.

The Fostering Panel plays a critical role in supporting these outcomes through robust, child-centred and evidence-based recommendations in relation to fostering approvals, connected persons arrangements and permanence planning.

Main Purpose of the Role

To provide independent leadership and oversight of Merton’s Fostering Panel, ensuring that it operates as a child centred decision-making forum in line with statutory requirements, Fostering Services (England) Regulations 2011, National Minimum Standards and local policy.

To ensure that all Panel recommendations are clear, well-evidenced, analytically robust and focused on safeguarding, stability and positive permanence outcomes for children in care.

To ensure that only appropriate, high-quality cases are presented to Panel, working closely with the Panel Adviser to maintain standards and readiness.

To contribute to the continuous improvement of the Fostering Assessment & Support Service through quality assurance, constructive challenge and partnership working with the Panel Adviser, Fostering Management Team and Agency Decision Maker.