Blaenau Gwent Council has approved a new Corporate Parenting Strategy 2025/2030 - a bold and forward-thinking plan that places care experienced children and young people at the heart of decision-making.
Accompanying the strategy is a comprehensive Action Plan designed to deliver real, lasting change.
Co-produced with care experienced children and young people, staff, elected members, and a wide range of partners, the strategy sets out 11 core principles and 9 promises, aligned to the Welsh Government’s Corporate Parenting Charter – A Promise for Wales (2023), which was endorsed in August 2024 by the Cabinet Member for Social Services and the Council’s Chief Executive.
The strategy was officially launched by the young people themselves at a Winter Wonderland event in Blaenau Gwent.
Corporate Parenting is a legal duty for councils and their partners to act as any responsible and loving parent would. Blaenau Gwent’s new Strategy raises the bar — not only meeting statutory obligations but going further to create a culture of high aspiration, emotional support and opportunity.
Councillor Sue Edmunds, Cabinet Member for Social Services, said:
“We have a moral and legal responsibility to care experienced children and young people, and this strategy sets out exactly how we intend to fulfil it - with compassion, consistency, and ambition. Our Marmot approach is about fostering equality for everyone. This isn’t just a Council document, it’s a promise, built together with our young people, that they will be seen, heard, and supported and that their voices are at the heart of everything we’ve planned. This is about more than services; it's about giving every young person the chance to feel safe, supported and hopeful about their future.
"Thank you to everyone who has helped to shape this, especially our young people for their time and insight.”
The Action Plan contains 70 smart actions designed to strengthen multi-agency collaboration, improve outcomes in education, health, housing and employment, and reduce inequalities. These actions directly support the Council’s wider commitments as a Marmot Council — tackling the social determinants of health and embedding a preventative, whole-system approach.
The Strategy was shaped through extensive engagement, including workshops with care experienced young people. A wide range of voices - from social workers to service users, schools to housing providers - were central in its development.
By taking a whole-system, preventative approach, this strategy represents a major step forward in Blaenau Gwent’s journey to create better outcomes for care experienced children - and a stronger, more compassionate society for all.
Visit our Corporate Parenting Strategy webpage and watch our wonderful video ‘The Promise Tree’, a story written for our care experienced children by our Play Officer and narrated by some of Blaenau Gwent’s care experienced children. Click here.
