Northern Ireland Statistics Research Agency
Children and Families Minister Nadhim Zahawi has today announced a package of support worth 17 million to improve outcomes for vulnerable children.
More than 15 million will go to eight new Partners in Practice, to expand a peer support programme between local authorities to improve childrens services.
The government is also announcing 2 million to improve leadership in childrens social care services, which will be delivered through the Local Government Association (LGA).
The funding is part of the Governments 20 million improvement strategy for childrens social care, and will see the Partners in Practice Programme childrens services which are rated good by Ofsted develop and share strong practice, and deliver hands-on peer support to other councils, to help improve outcomes for more children and their families across the country.
Minister for Children and Families Nadhim Zahawi said:
Social workers do an incredible job providing some of our most vulnerable children in our society with life-changing care and support.
This investment for our Partners in Practice Programme will help the fantastic work councils are doing to deliver high-quality services and make a real difference to childrens lives.
I am also pleased to support the Local Government Association to drive good leadership, which is crucial if we want to support and encourage frontline staff to deliver excellent care for children and young people.
This investment comes from 20 million announced at the National Childrens and Adults Services (NCAS) conference last year (October 2017), to provide additional support for councils at risk of service failure and to help create a system of continuous improvement. Through the funding, the LGA will create a package of support to ensure lead council members have the skills they need to scrutinise performance and drive improvement in childrens services.
Cllr Richard Watts, Chair of the Local Government Associations Children and Young People Board, said:
We are pleased that the Minister has backed the LGAs call for childrens improvement funding. This will help to deliver an enhanced programme of sector-led support to councils, offering everything from regular health checks and training for lead members and senior officers.
The achievements of councils through the sector-led improvement approach demonstrate its success and shows what councils can achieve by working together and supporting one another.
Phil Norrey, the Solace spokesperson for Children and Families and Chief Executive of Devon County Council, said:
This is welcome investment for childrens services, good news for the children and families we serve and a vote of confidence in local government as a whole. Sector led improvement has proven itself effective in other areas and we are pleased by the recognition that chief executives and whole council leadership is needed to drive meaningful change.
Solace looks forward to working with our partners on this bid the Local Government Association, Association of Directors of Childrens Services and Department for Education to challenge and support our colleagues across the country.
The new Partners in Practice are Ealing, Camden, North Tyneside and South Tyneside in partnership, Essex, Stockport, Hackney, East Riding of Yorkshire and Doncaster Trust. The Partners in Practice Programme and the Innovation Programme are part of the governments ambitious reforms to childrens