Agenda item

The Commission considered a report of the ‘Light Touch’ Scrutiny Review Panel setting out the conclusions of the Review of Forced Marriages. A copy of the report, marked ‘D’, is field with these minutes.

The Chairman invited Mr. Lewis and Mr. Catt, who had both served on the Review, to introduce the report. Mr. Lewis and Mr. Catt hoped that the report dealt with the matter sensitively and that the County Council could take the lead on this issue. They thanked Beverley Ireland in Committee Services and officers in the Children and Young People’s Service for their assistance in producing the report.

Members were in agreement that ‘the law of the land’ should take priority on issues of this nature and that the conclusions reached by Mr. Lewis and Mr. Catt were important. The report had received some positive press in the Leicester Mercury and it was felt to be important that the report was stimulating some debate. However, the extent to which the Council was in a position to progress some of the issues raised in the report was unknown, given that many of the recommendations were to be taken forward directly by schools and other agencies. For this reason, it was felt appropriate for the Scrutiny Commissioners to discuss the issue with the Director of Children and Young People’s Service.

RESOLVED:

(a)               That Mr. Lewis and Mr. Catt be thanked for producing a comprehensive report;

(b)               That the Scrutiny Commissioners be asked to discuss the report with the Director of Children and Young People’s Service with a view to establishing the extent to which the Council can actively take the conclusions of the Review forward.