Decision - Regional care cooperative DfE pathfinder

Brighton and Hove Cabinet Decided 23 Jan 2025 · effective 1 Feb 2025 approved Key decision GET /api/coverage

Decision maker

Cabinet

Report author

Jacqui Parfitt

Published

24 Jan 2025

Reference

7368

As published

the council's own words, unedited

This report seeks approval by Cabinet for the Council to continue to be involved in a South East regional care cooperative pilot, funded by the Department of Education. This initiative will support the council to provide appropriate placements for children in care.

1) Cabinet agrees for Brighton & Hove City Council to continue to be involved in the RCC. 2) Cabinet agrees for a contribution of £250,000 to be made from to the RCC, with £50,000 being made in 25/26; £100,000 in 26/27 and £100,000 in 27/28. An outline business case has been completed as part of the corporate budget setting process for 2025/26 to access modernisation funding for this purpose. 3) Cabinet delegates authority to the Corporate Director, Families, Children & Wellbeing in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Children, Families, Youth Services and for Ending Violence Against Women and Girls to agree the RCC delivery model.

Parsed from the document

gpt-5.6-luna-2026-07-09 · 3299/1351 tokens · 11164ms · parsed 9 Sep 2026 15:22

Everything below was read out of a PDF by a model It is useful and it is not authoritative. The document it came from is linked in the rail, and where the two disagree the document is right.

Cabinet was asked to approve Brighton & Hove City Council continuing its involvement in the Department for Education Regional Care Cooperative pilot with 18 other Local Authorities in the South East. The proposal included a £250,000 contribution over three years to improve care placement availability, outcomes and value for money for children and young people.

Recommendation

Approve Brighton & Hove City Council continuing to be involved in the Regional Care Cooperative; approve a £250,000 contribution, comprising £50,000 in 2025/26, £100,000 in 2026/27 and £100,000 in 2027/28; and delegate authority to the Corporate Director, Families, Children & Wellbeing, in consultation with the Cabinet Member, to agree the Regional Care Cooperative delivery model.

Financial impact

£250,000 contribution over three years: £50,000 in 2025/26, £100,000 in 2026/27 and £100,000 in 2027/28. Brighton & Hove City Council has accepted £521,000 capital funding from the Department for Education, with an anticipated saving of approximately £700,000 from bringing children back to Rainbow Lodge.

Ward affected

city-wide

Decision maker

Cabinet

Date in document

23 Jan 2025

Stakeholders named

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Children in Carechildren and young people requiring care placementsChildren in Care CouncilCare Leavers forumPaCC18 Local Authorities in the South Eastcare providers

Next steps

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Continue Brighton & Hove City Council's involvement in the Regional Care Cooperative.
Make the staged contribution of £50,000 in 2025/26, £100,000 in 2026/27 and £100,000 in 2027/28.
The Corporate Director, Families, Children & Wellbeing, in consultation with the Cabinet Member, will agree the Regional Care Cooperative delivery model.
Formalise the decision on the Regional Care Cooperative delivery vehicle in early 2025.
Continue working with PaCC, the Children in Care Council and the Care Leavers forum.

Precedents

not built

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