Strengthening Corporate Parenting across Wirral
What does it really mean to be a good parent - when you’re parenting hundreds of children?
Councillors and senior leaders from across Wirral Council recently came together to reflect on their shared role as corporate parents to some of the borough’s most vulnerable children and young people. The session focused on what corporate parenting means in practice, why it matters, and how everyday council decisions can shape the lives of care experienced children and young people.
When a child goes into care, the council becomes their corporate parent. This role brings the same responsibilities any parent would expect. Keeping children safe, listening to them, supporting their health, helping them do well at school and preparing them for adult life.
The session linked to Wirral’s Corporate Parenting Plan - which was co‑produced last year with our care experienced children and young people, along with our partners - and focused on making sure the plan’s commitments continue to influence decisions across the council.
In Wirral, 664 children are currently in care, with most living in foster care or family‑based settings. There are also around 600 care leavers, many of whom are taking their first steps into adult life without the same support networks other young people may rely on.
Local information shared during the session helped explain why corporate parenting is a responsibility for everyone, not just children’s services. For example, while 73% of care leavers aged 17–18 in Wirral are in education, employment or training, this falls to 59% for those aged 19–21. Nationally, 86% of all young people in this age group are in education, employment or training.
These differences highlight why early, joined‑up support matters, and why decisions taken across housing, education, employment, transport and community services all play a part.
Listening to the voices of our care experienced children and young people was central to the session. One question shared by young people prompted reflection across the room: “How can my corporate parents champion me when I’m not in the room?”
That question helped shape discussion about how the council can make sure decisions are rooted in real experiences, not assumptions, even when children in care and care leavers are not the main focus of a report or meeting.
Cllr Stephen Bennett, Chair of Wirral’s Children, Young People and Education Committee, said:
Corporate parenting is about more than policy. It’s about understanding the lives of care‑experienced children and young people and making sure they are reflected in the decisions we take.
The Corporate Parenting Plan was built with care‑experienced children and young people, not just written about them. Sessions like this help us stay true to that commitment by keeping young people’s voices at the centre of how we work across the council.
The session also highlighted progress already being made through the Corporate Parenting Plan. This includes strengthened, trauma‑informed support for foster carers, targeted education support through the Virtual School, continued help for care leavers, and work to create jobs and apprenticeship opportunities with local employers.
