A maximum of 15 minutes will be allocated to public questions submitted in writing to Democratic Services (democratic.services@trafford.gov.uk) by 4 p.m. on the working day prior to the meeting. Questions must be relevant to items appearing on the agenda and will be submitted in the order in which they were received.

It was reported that a public question had been received regarding the Greater Manchester House Project, on which a report was to be considered later on the agenda (Minute 105 below refers). The specific question received was as follows.

“Children in Care have suffered the most disadvantage and many have also suffered from multiple adverse Childhood Experiences, some have mental health issues and special educational needs. Whilst the House Project looks great on paper, I cannot see any reference online to the ORCHID framework being recognised by AQA or classed as education, could someone respond to let me know where that is please, and I would be interested to see updates on progress of individuals involved in this work and whether they eventually access employment and successfully live independently?”

The Chair, Councillor Hynes, noted that this matter related to her portfolio, and made a response in the following terms.

I’d like to thank Elizabeth, for her question and for all the reasons she has said and more, I agree that care experienced young people face considerable disadvantage.

I would like to reassure Elizabeth and others that addressing disadvantage is why we are proposing to bring this collaborative initiative to Trafford. I will go into a bit more detail about the project when I introduce the report later in agenda but I’ll hopefully address the question about the framework and training elements of the proposal.

The National House Project is an evidenced programme to support Care Experienced Young People to have the opportunity to secure their own tenancy for as long as they want it and can sustain it.  Whilst also being supported to gain their independence and develop the skills they need to do that.

There is a National House Project and the Local House projects that fall under that umbrella are required to adopt and work through an agreed practice model and approach that has been tried and tested in different localities across the Country.

We now have the opportunity in Trafford to be part of a GM House Project. This will enhance and add to a number of existing accommodation offers that we have for our care experienced young people.

ORCHIDS is the overarching practice framework that underpins the ethos and practice model of every local House Project. It stands for Ownership, Responsibility, Community, Homes, Independence, Direction and Sense of Wellbeing. This ethos is underpinned by the “psychological theory of self-determination”.

For every House Project there is a training programme to support the development of independence skills called the House Project Programme, which comprises of thirteen modules. The programme is accredited by AQA and, as such, has a number of learning outcomes.

When a young person passes the module, this is verified by the National House Project who submit a claim to AQA for certification.

The programme modules approach and learning are accredited through AQA and there is also a validation process that the AQA agree.

The content of the modules has been developed in part  ...  view the full minutes text for item 100