As first was going to press, I was speaking at the launch of a new fund to support young people leaving local authority care.
The £3.6 million Care Leavers’ Fund is providing match funding for local projects aimed at helping care leavers with everything from homelessness to one-to-one mentoring at work.
Support for care leavers is a subject close to my heart, and the LGA’s Step Ahead campaign demonstrates our commitment to helping ensure those leaving care are given the best start to their adult life.
As part of that campaign, I would encourage you to get involved by getting your council signed up to the Care Leaver Covenant, and encouraging more businesses in your areas to do the same.
I know that you work tirelessly at the local level, both as direct providers of services and conveners of partners, to ensure every young person leaving care has the best start in life.
The LGA is working to support councils to go further in improving local support, led by the changes care leavers tell us they want to see.
But councils and the voluntary sector alone do not possess all the levers to drive the scale of change that’s needed.
We have long highlighted that councils are facing severe and unsustainable funding pressures, which are impacting councils’ ability to deliver services and support for children and young people.
We also want national government to fund a national council tax exemption for those leaving care up to the age of 25, and to ensure that the national benefits system is sufficient and meets care leavers’ essential living costs.
Those leaving care today will become the pillars of our community tomorrow. They will enrich every part of our society, whether culturally, economically, or politically.
As communities, it’s essential that we come together – the public sector, business and civil society – to equip care leavers with all the support they need to thrive, and work relentlessly to ensure they have access to every advantage in life.