Barking Council Unveils Strategic Promises for Children in Care: Barking 2026

Key Points

• Barking and Dagenham Council Cabinet approved the Corporate Parenting Strategy 2026–2030 at Barking Town Hall on Tuesday, 15 September.
• The strategy outlines five core commitments for children in care and care leavers, covering care, relationships, health, education, and transition to adulthood.
• As of August 2026, the local authority manages care for 409 children and provides support to 340 care leavers.
• The local youth forum Skittlz co-designed the policy under the operational standard “nothing about you, without you”.
• Practical priorities include expanding in-house children’s homes, recruiting foster carers, strengthening the Lifelong Links service, and improving healthcare access.
• Local care leavers achieved a 60% rate in education, employment, or training during 2025/26, surpassing the national average of 54%.

Barking and Dagenham (East London Times) September 22, 2026 – Barking and Dagenham Council Cabinet has formally adopted a four-year strategic framework establishing five distinct statutory promises to children in care and care leavers across the borough. Approved during a Cabinet meeting at Barking Town Hall on Tuesday, 15 September, the Corporate Parenting Strategy 2026–2030 details the operational commitments of the local authority and its partner agencies to ensure care-experienced children and young people receive structured, long-term support.

The framework assigns shared responsibility across the local council structure and external statutory bodies, including elected councillors, local authority officers, state schools, National Health Service (NHS) partners, the Metropolitan Police Service, housing departments, voluntary sector organisations, and the wider community. According to official figures recorded in August 2026, Barking and Dagenham Council holds statutory responsibility for 409 looked-after children and oversees support frameworks for 340 care leavers transitioning into independent living.

What Are the Five Core Promises Agreed by Barking and Dagenham Council?

The Corporate Parenting Strategy 2026–2030 establishes five specific operational guarantees designed to direct local service delivery over the next four years. The promises reflect direct feedback gathered from looked-after children and young people within the borough:

1. Care and Support: Delivering high-quality, stable care arrangements tailored to individual needs.
2. Relationships and Connectivity: Enabling young people to build lasting connections and maintain relationships with family, friends, and trusted individuals.
3. Health and Wellbeing: Providing targeted assistance for physical health, emotional wellbeing, and mental health services.
4. Educational Attainment: Facilitating high-quality educational opportunities, stability in schooling, and targeted learning support.
5. Transition to Adulthood: Assisting young people to reach personal goals, prepare for independent living, access employment or training, and secure suitable, safe housing.

The policy was co-produced alongside Skittlz, Barking and Dagenham’s Children in Care and Care Leavers Council. Representatives from Skittlz collaborated directly with council officials to shape service provision, healthcare access, educational support, and opportunities for young people across the borough. The local authority confirmed that this collaborative approach will remain central to the strategy under the principle of “nothing about you, without you”.

What Practical Action Plans and Performance Metrics Are Outlined in the Strategy?

The strategy identifies concrete priorities to be implemented over the next three years to improve service capacity and stability. These measures focus on increasing placement permanence, expanding foster carer recruitment, and scaling up the Lifelong Links service to assist care-experienced individuals in maintaining or restoring family networks. The council has also committed to increasing local residential capacity through the direct development of local authority-run children’s homes.

How Is Educational Progress Tracked Across the Local Authority?

Performance data from the 2025/26 academic period highlights progress in local educational oversight:

• Personal Education Plans (PEPs): 93% of looked-after children maintained up-to-date PEP documentation during 2025/26.
• Academic Standards: Looked-after children in Barking and Dagenham exceeded national average academic benchmarks for care-experienced pupils at both Key Stage 2 and Key Stage 4 during the previous academic year.
• Special Educational Needs: The local authority has pledged continued resources to maintain educational stability and expand support structures for care-experienced children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND).

What Are the Key Health and Housing Outcomes for Local Care Leavers?

Official monitoring figures outline current performance levels across housing, employment, and healthcare services:

Service Category	Local Authority Rate (2025/26)	National England Average
Care Leavers in Education, Employment, or Training (EET)	60%	54%
Care Leavers in Suitable Accommodation	90%	89%
Looked-After Children with Up-to-Date Health Assessments	92%	Not Specified

Despite these results, the strategy identifies specific operational areas requiring systemic improvement. While 92% of looked-after children received up-to-date statutory health assessments in 2025/26, the local authority highlighted the need for faster access to health interventions, specifically increasing uptake and timely appointments for dental and optical checks.

In a public statement regarding the Cabinet decision, Councillor Jane Jones, Cabinet Member for Children’s Social Care, Education & Schools, outlined the authority’s responsibilities:

“Our role as corporate parents is to make sure every child in our care feels safe, loved, listened to and valued. We want children and young people to have the relationships, opportunities and support they need to thrive and to feel confident about their future.

“This strategy sets out five clear promises covering the things children and young people have told us matter most to them – from good care, strong and lasting relationships and good health, to education, achieving their goals and having a safe place to call home.

“We will continue to listen to children and young people and put their voices at the heart of our decisions, because the best way to improve the support we provide is to work alongside the people who experience it.”

Governance of the four-year framework will be managed through the Corporate Parenting Board in direct coordination with care-experienced youth. Progress will be monitored via an annual action plan featuring target metrics, supplemented by an annual report presented to the council.

What Is the Background to Local Authority Corporate Parenting Duties?

The statutory framework governing corporate parenting in England is established primarily under the Children Act 1989 and expanded by the Children and Social Work Act 2017. Under English law, local authorities hold a statutory duty to act as a “corporate parent” for any child or young person taken into local authority care, as well as young adults transitioning out of care up to the age of 25.

The Children and Social Work Act 2017 introduced seven specific Corporate Parenting Principles that all local councils in England must follow. These legal duties require local authorities to:

• Promote the physical and mental health, and emotional wellbeing, of looked-after children and care leavers.
• Encourage young people to express their views, wishes, and feelings.
• Take those views, wishes, and feelings into account when delivering services.
• Help children and young people gain access to, and make the best use of, services provided by the local authority and its relevant partners.
• Promote high aspirations among looked-after children and care leavers to secure the best outcomes.
• Ensure safety and stability in home environments, educational placements, and employment.
• Prepare care-experienced young people for independent adult life.

Historically, local authorities have faced challenges regarding placement stability, out-of-borough residential placements, and access to children’s mental health services (CAMHS). The development of multi-year strategies, such as Barking and Dagenham’s 2026–2030 framework, represents a structural shift toward integrated multi-agency delivery—aligning health, education, housing, and social services under a unified operational model.

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How Will This Development Affect Children in Care, Care Leavers, and the Local Community?

The adoption of the Corporate Parenting Strategy 2026–2030 has direct, practical implications for care-experienced young people, service providers, and local council operations in Barking and Dagenham.

Impact on Children in Care and Care Leavers

For the 409 children currently in care and 340 care leavers in the borough, the policy establishes clear expectations for service delivery and personal support:

• Placement Stability: The commitment to build local council-run children’s homes and recruit local foster carers reduces the necessity of placing children outside their local community, allowing them to remain close to their schools, friends, and support networks.
• Long-Term Connections: The expansion of the Lifelong Links program offers structured avenues for young people to establish permanent connections with family members or trusted adults, addressing the isolation often experienced by care leavers.
• Transition Support: Higher baseline performance in housing suitabilities (90%) and EET rates (60%) offers care leavers improved access to local apprenticeships, financial literacy training, and secure, permanent housing options as they reach adulthood.

Impact on Statutory Partners and Service Delivery

For local NHS trusts, schools, housing services, and the Metropolitan Police, the strategy imposes a formal framework for inter-agency coordination. Health providers will need to streamline appointment pathways to address identified deficits in dental and optical checks, while local education authorities must maintain high standards for Personal Education Plans (PEPs) to support vulnerable students through Key Stage exams and post-16 education.

Impact on the Wider Barking and Dagenham Community

For the broader borough, the strategy directs municipal funding toward long-term social care infrastructure, including local residential facilities and foster care networks. Investing in early health interventions, stable housing, and vocational pathways reduces long-term pressures on local public services, housing registers, and adult social care systems, while creating a structured model for youth engagement across local government.