Fostering Panel Chair

Part Time / 6 Hours Per Week / Casual

Are you an excellent communicator with the skills to chair complex meetings, providing focus, managing time, and creating a safe space where a wide variety of views may be expressed?

The Fostering Panel are a diverse team bringing together different skills. The Panel meets to scrutinise Fostering Assessments and Reviews to make recommendations to the Agency Decision Maker in respect of foster carers' suitability to foster and or recommend any changes to their approval.

The Panel meets in person at the Leicester City Town Hall building fortnightly on a Wednesday.

This is a permanent position of variable hours. Salary is as follows:

• £500 per Panel
• £250 for training day

Fees include all additional work associated with the role of Panel Chair e.g. member's appraisals/reviews and Chair's Report.

Your Role

As the Chair of the Fostering Panel, you'll provide leadership and organisational skills when preparing for Fostering Panel meetings by reading Panel papers carefully, identifying key issues and alerting the Panel adviser if necessary, to ensure that all cases are adequate for submission to Panel. You'll ensure that all those attending Panel contribute and are treated with respect and courtesy whilst promoting anti discriminatory practice, and a strengths-based (Signs of Safety) approach. You'll show attention to detail when checking that electronic draft minutes are clear and accurate, before they are sent to the Agency Decision Maker (ADM) and the next Panel meeting. You'll also be involved in the recruitment, appointment and termination of Panel members and their annual appraisals. You'll work alongside Panel Members, Foster Carers, Leicester City Managers and Supervising Social Workers to develop and monitor policies and procedures to ensure high standards of work in the fostering service.

What you'll need

As the ideal candidate, you will need to have experience of sitting on a Fostering Panel either as a Panel member, Vice-Chair or Chair. Experience, whether that be professionally or personally, of the placement of children in foster families and of children being cared for away from their birth family is also a requirement as well as an appreciation of the effects of trauma, separation, and loss for children. In addition, you'll also have experience of chairing complex meetings whereby you will warmly welcome people attending panel ensuring that panel members are able to explore any concerns they have about matters placed before them and show a knowledge of the fostering regulations as they relate to the approval of foster carers. You'll hold the authority and competence to chair a panel, ensuring that business is covered and that the panel operates in accordance with regulations, policies and procedures.

You'll have the ability to process, summarise and analyse large amounts of complex and sometimes distressing information, employing rigorous quality assurance and analytical skills which are used throughout. You'll understand how to safeguard and promote children's welfare in foster care using excellent interpersonal, listening, oral and written communication skills.

For an informal discussion please contact Aneeta Hulait Fostering Panel Adviser on 01164544259 or email Aneeta.Hulait@Leicester.Gov.UK

Closing Date for application is 2nd of November 2026.

Interview dates will be arranged for November 2026.