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CHILDREN AND YOUNG PEOPLE’S SERVICES
BUSINESS PLAN
2018/2019
LIVERPOOL CITY COUNCIL CHILDREN AND YOUNG PEOPLE’S SERVICES BUSINESS PLAN
29 May 2018 v11 Page 2 of 42
1. Foreword from the Director of Children and Young People’s
Services
Welcome to the Children and Young People’s Services Business Plan for 2018/2019.
The delivery of the Children and Young People Service Directorate Plan is absolutely critical
to the delivery of the Mayors Inclusive Growth Plan and the future success of our great city.
Investment in our 108,000 children and young people, particularly their health, wellbeing
and education is the fundamental building block to ensuring we have a healthy, happy and
prosperous city. This will both ensure the future of the city via the increased economic
growth and prosperity that benefits all, and importantly will halt the exponential, and
unaffordable, increased demand for public services.
The Mayors Inclusive Growth Plan has set out a bold vision for the city that importantly for
many of our children and their families has a clear focus on fairness. We know there are too
many children living in families in poverty, too many with poor health and too many children
in care. We also know that in some cases children, and families, do not get the support they
need at the right time, and that in terms of education outcomes our city does not always
compare well with others. As in many other cities our children are exposed to new threats of
criminal and sexual exploitation and for all the benefits of new technology we know there
are increased risks there too.
As a directorate we are absolutely determined to deal with these challenges and to ensure improved outcomes for all our children and young people. This will only be achieved if everyone plays their part. Many services rely on each other to be successful, and many contribute to several of the outcomes we are seeking to improve. As a City we are clear that we will only achieve our ambitions if all parts of the Council and all agencies work together and crucially if individuals, in this case young people and their families, are engaged effectively and play their part – we can longer ‘do for’ we need be alongside and ‘do with’ children and their families.
To deliver on our priorities and the high aspirations we have for our children and young
people we need to both maintain and improve our current services and deliver on some key
programmes of work including:
Education Outcome Improvement Programme – we are recruiting a Chief Education Officer
and developing a new governance group and new Improvement Strategy , and with key
stakeholders undertaking a fundamental review of how improvement resources are
prioritised and deployed to drive up education standards across all age phases and across
both special and mainstream education. We will also be working closely with employers
across the city to both inspire young learners and provide a talent pipeline for current and
future businesses.
Social Care Quality Improvement – following improvements delivered after the 2016 JTAI
(Joint Targeted Area Inspection) we have updated our improvement plan informed by a
recent LGA Peer Review and an OFSTED ILACS Inspection. We have seen progress but we
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know there is more to do, and as Corporate Parents for 1200 children and young people we
know too this must be a priority for all members and officers of the Council.
Demand Management – in order to deliver a balanced budget for the directorate, and the
wider Council, we have created a programme focused on developing and investing in Early
Help and early intervention and prevention to ensure we support families and safely reduce
the number of children coming into care and increase numbers of those leaving care. A key
component of this is the Families Programme – Liverpool is one of only 11 areas nationally
granted ‘earned autonomy’ by the Troubled Families Programme, this has secured additional
funding to really embed our partnership approach to early help and prevention.
Integrated Working – we are committed to delivering improved outcomes through
increased joint working with health partners including developing a locality model around
our Childrens Centres.
Child Friendly City – we are seeking to work in partnership with UNICEF on a bid to develop
Liverpool as a ‘Child Friendly City’ based around a focus on childrens rights. Critical to this
programme will be children and young people taking a leadership role.
Underpinning all of this work it is critical that we continue to invest in and develop our
workforce. Recognising the pressure this year particularly in our social work teams we have
made investment in additional posts and developed a recruitment and retention strategy,
we have also invested in support for newly qualified staff. But we know it can’t end there
and we need to invest in and develop the whole childrens workforce within the Council and
across schools and others key partners, and crucially support staff in their current role and
develop them into our future leaders. One of my favourite books is Legacy by James Kerr (a
book on leadership in the All Blacks Rugby Team) a key line I taken from this is “Leaders
create leaders, they arm their team with intent then step out of the way”.
I feel incredibly proud and privileged to work for the city, this is the best city in the world
and our children and young people are amazing. Delivery of this plan and working across the
council with other directorates, and with our partners, in supporting the Inclusive Growth
Plan will ensure we provide the future they deserve.
Steve Reddy, Director of Children and Young People’s Services
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2. Context
2.1 Children’s Services Role and Purpose, Challenges and Opportunities
Our Role and Purpose:
Our children are our greatest asset; the citizens of the future who can help to drive and
deliver Liverpool’s vision to be a strong and growing city built on fairness. As the saying
goes …’It takes a city to raise a child’… and here in Liverpool we have ambitious plans
for our children and the services that support them. Our vision is that:
‘All our children and young people enjoy the best possible quality of life and
are able to reach their full potential’. (Inclusive Growth Plan 2018)
The social and economic “payback” from investing in children and young people, and
the services that support them, is healthy and flourishing communities and a thriving
city where more people reach their potential. Helping children and their families make
positive changes to underlying patterns of behaviour by investing in early, preventative
work is key to making lasting improvements in outcomes, reducing demand and
reducing the cost base of services. In Liverpool ensuring safe, healthy, skilled, and
confident children, young people, families and communities will lay the foundation for
an increasingly prosperous city where the social and economic benefits of growth are
enjoyed by all.
A key element of our role is helping children, their families, and their communities to
develop the resourcefulness and resilience that enables them to thrive. This includes
ensuring they have the best start in life, are ready to learn, ready for school, ready for
work and are safe, healthy and free from harm. Working with children and their
families – collaborating and involving them in the development of services that help
shape their future– is a founding principle of all that we do.
As a Directorate, we play a key leadership role within the local authority and working
with other local agencies to improve the social, health, education and economic
outcomes for children and young people. The scope of our work extends across the
statutory functions relating to the education and social care of children and young
people, and to our work with partners to deliver early help and prevention.
The statutory functions we deliver are covered in key legislation and are outlined in
Appendix A.
Our services cover the following areas:
Education, alternative education and school improvement
Early learning and Early Years education
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Special Educational Needs and Disabilities
Social Inclusion
Early Help including Early Help Hubs and Children’s Centres
Social Care including assessment, permanence, adoption and fostering, court and
care planning
Safeguarding and quality assurance
Intelligence, information and performance management
Commissioning
Our aim in delivering the above functions is not only to address the needs of all
children and young people, including the most disadvantaged and vulnerable, and
their families and carers but to go ‘above and beyond’ and ensure that every child has
what they need to succeed. Early learning and education are pivotal to this as are good
health and wellbeing – we recognise that improving these outcomes for children and
young people are at the heart of a strong economy and a strong city.
Attending school regularly lays a secure groundwork for future work and employment,
and can be a protective factor for children and young people and so is a key focus for
us as part of the City’s Inclusive Growth Plan and our Children and Young People’s
Directorate plan.
Our children and young people:
Children and young people in Liverpool are amazing – the city has over 108,000
children and young people aged under 19 years, and 29,000 aged under 5 years. Our
young population is increasing and becoming more diverse. Our young people are
passionate, energetic, enthusiastic, confident and entrepreneurial members of our
society. They are the future of the city and are at the centre of everything we do so the
investment we make throughout their childhood is an investment in the city’s future.
We recognise that some of our children face challenges, from birth or at certain points
throughout their childhood and we play a critical role in helping them to address these
challenges. To provide a simple framework for some of the issues affecting children in
the city we have applied Liverpool’s statistical data to a class of 30 children:
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Out of 30 children:
15 would be girls, 15 would be boys
23 would be White British and 7 would be from ethnic minorities
4 would speak English as an additional language
10 would be living in poverty; 7 would be eligible for a Free School
Meal
1 would be a looked after child or on a child protection plan
5 would have a Special Educational Need, 1 of whom would have a
statement or an EHCP most probably for behaviour, emotional and
social difficulties
11 would be classified as overweight or obese
18 would leave school with a standard pass in English and
mathematics at GCSE level, and the majority would go on to
further education. However 9 would not have reached the
expected standard of reading at Key Stage 2
4 would not be in any form of education, employment or training
at age 16.
Challenges and Opportunities:
We recognise that a key element of our role is helping children, their families, and
their communities to develop the resourcefulness and resilience that enables them to
thrive – this includes ensuring they have the best start in life, are ready to learn, ready
for school, ready for work and are safe, healthy and free from harm.
The links between good educational outcomes, good health outcomes, economic
prosperity and life expectancy are well documented and we know our performance as
a city needs to improve.
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As a Directorate, we recognise the context within which we operate is complex with
the challenges we face centring around:
Managing Demand:
As is the case with many other areas and public services the Local Authority is facing
significant demands on its services as a result of increasing and diverse needs across
the city’s population. We are not alone in this with our health and police partners
identifying similar demand pressures. These demand pressures have financial
implications, particularly where specialist support is required.
Improving Quality:
Improving the quality of our education, social care and early help services remains a
critical success factor in ensuring they deliver a positive and lasting impact for our
children and young people. Our focus on supporting newly qualified staff and
strengthening the skills of our existing workforce needs to improve in order to create
the capacity needed to deliver the changes required to meet the changing demands
across the city.
Ensuring children have a voice:
Ensuring children are at the centre of everything we do remains a core principle –
giving children a voice, knowing what works for them, engaging them in debate and
discussions about future services are all essential to strengthening their resilience and
contribution to deciding the city’s future.
To meet the above challenges, with strong political and corporate support, there are
opportunities to build on. These include:
Our strategic commitment to changing the way we work with children and young
people including our work towards gaining Child Friendly City status and our
commitment with the LSCB to rolling out Signs of Safety;
117 primary schools, 28 secondary schools, and 12 special schools – with all special
schools good or outstanding – and a commitment to transform the collaborative
working around the Liverpool Promise;
A credible reputation for partnership working, successfully developing new services
and delivering transformation initiatives (MASH, Instant Response Team, Early Help
Hubs, Supported Internships for young people with disabilities, as examples) and
equally importantly for our willingness to share best practice;
A vibrant voluntary and community sector with a wealth of knowledge and
experience about children and young people and the challenges that they face;
A passionate, articulate and skilled workforce committed to improving outcomes
for children and young people and already engaged in new ways of working such as
using the Early Help Assessment approach and Graded Care assessments;
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A successful Earned Autonomy Bid attracting additional funding to strengthen our
already successful Families Programme and embed early help and prevention
across all our services.
We adopt a partnership approach because improving outcomes is the responsibility of
everyone who works with and cares about children and young people and their
families. Our aspiration to become a child friendly city means we will ensure our
children and young people are safe, healthy, successful, heard, involved and respected
at home, at school, in their communities - and whenever decisions affect them – it
sends the right message about how important their welfare is to us and how important
they are to our future.
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2.2 Budget Overview
The total net Children’s Services budget in 2018/19 is £111.914m; representing
approximately 27% of the Council’s total budget requirement and £502.730m gross of
all income and recharges; including specific grants and the Dedicated Schools Grant
and Pupil Premium Grant.
2018/19 Budget Gross
£m
Income
£m
Net
£m Early Help 60.491 (46.124) 14.367 Social Care 73.735 (5.390) 68.345 Support for Schools 366.500 (337.298) 29.202 Families Programme 2.004 (2.004) 0 Total 502.730 (390.816) 111.914
2018/19 Budget Gross
£m
%
Employees 244.273 48.6 Premises 28.477 5.7 Transport 2.697 0.5 Services and Supplies 115.263 22.9 Commissioned Services 97.001 19.3 Central Support Service Recharges 15.019 3.0 Total 502.730 100%
Our staffing complement includes our directly provided early help services, social
work practitioners and family support, data and intelligence staff as well as
commissioning managers and support staff.
The numbers only tell half the story though – we know our staff are committed and
passionate about working with children to improve their outcomes. Feedback from a
recent Peer Review noted ‘our staff are our greatest asset’ and we are committed to
supporting everyone through strong leadership and management and regular
workforce development activities. The delivery of our Recruitment and Retention
Strategy for Children’s Services is an integral element to this.
In addition, we are continuing to invest in new technology to support agile working
and ensure a ‘fit for purpose’ working environment for all our staff. Whilst the rollout
is not without its challenges feedback from those who have benefitted from the new
equipment has been positive.
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2.3 Staff & Management Structure
Our current service structures are set out below:
Steve Reddy
Director of Children's Services
Suzanne Metcalfe
Assistant Director Early Help
Claire Campbell
Children's Centres
Hazel Patterson
Children's Centres, Short Breaks, Early Help Info &
Support
Karen Gleave
SEN assessment, High Needs Funding, Local Offer
Katie Hinds
Educational Psychology Sensory Service, SENIS
Trish Berry
Early Help incl. Hubs and Assessment
Fiona Waddington
Assistant Director Social Care
Alison O'Connor
Permanence & Leaving Care
Angela D'Annunzio
Family Support & Residential
Caroline Smith
Court Care and Planning
Nicky Urding
Fostering & Adoption, Disabled Children's Team
Tyra Pether
MASH Partnership Manager
Assessment
Liz Mekki
QA & Safeguarding, LADO & Complaints
Gail Porter
Programme Director
Sarah Hodgson
Strategic Analyis
Linda Coady
Education Systems & Intelligence
Alison Moglione
Families Programme
Wendy Moss
Strategic Workforce Development
Paul Dagnall
Behaviour & Inclusion
Carol Roche
Strategic Commisioning
Alan McCarthy
LSCB Business Manager
Vacant
Chief Education Officer
Sandra Tai
Client Officer School Improvement Liverpool
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2.4 Cabinet Members
The Children’s Services Directorate supports the Cabinet in a wide variety of ways,
including through Cabinet and Select Committee reporting arrangements and Cabinet
Member briefings. We directly support:
Councillor Barry Kushner, Cabinet Member for Children’s and Social Care
Councillor Barbara Murry, Cabinet Member for Education
Councillor Abdul Qadir - Youth and Citizen Engagement.
2.5 Links to Key Plans / Partnerships / Partners
We work well in partnership to improve the outcomes for our children and young
people. Internally within the City Council we work closely with our colleagues in Adult
Services, Community Services and Regeneration Services to connect our support to
children and their families around housing, employment and training, benefits advice
and maximisation, community safety and health. Externally, we collaborate with our
partners in order to deliver effective support to children and their families, at the
earliest opportunity and when there is a need for statutory intervention.
There are a number of existing strategies which support the above including Demand
Management Strategy; Commissioning and Sufficiency Strategy; Children Young
People’s Mental Health and Wellbeing Strategy; Participation Strategy; Early Help
Strategy; Physical Activity Strategy; Attendance Strategy; Early Learning Strategy;
Domestic Abuse Strategy; Neglect Strategy; SEND strategy; Child Poverty Strategy.
These are monitored regularly to ensure they achieve the impact necessary to improve
the outcomes for children and young people.
Key partnerships which help us to deliver include:
Liverpool Safeguarding Children’s Board
Liverpool Children and Families Trust
Liverpool Children’s Transformation Board
Liverpool Children’s Mental Health & Emotional Wellbeing Partnership
Liverpool Families Strategic Group
Liverpool Citysafe and DISARM partnerships
Liverpool SEND Partnership Board.
Partners who play a key role within these partnerships are:
Liverpool Clinical Commissioning Group
Schools and Academies
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Domestic Abuse provider partners
Health providers including Alder Hey and Merseycare
Merseyside Police
Youth Offending
Registered Social Landlords
Merseyside Probation
Merseyside Community Rehabilitation Company
Liverpool Charity and Voluntary Services, and the wider voluntary, community and
faith organisations.
Key Priorities
3.1 Inclusive Growth Plan Priorities
The Mayor’s Inclusive Growth Plan outlines our Directorate contribution to a strong
and growing city built on fairness. Within the Plan our priorities for children and young
people are:
The core principles underpinning the delivery of these priorities are:
Listening to and involving our children, young people and their families to ensure we
understand their lived experiences, their needs and their wishes and feelings, and
what makes the biggest difference in terms of securing better outcomes. To ensure
this we will ensure ‘the voice of the child’ is present in all our service planning and
professional practice, and that we engage, consult and involve children and young
people in a variety of different ways. Our current approaches include:
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Children’s Participation Officers
Children’s Advocacy Officer
Children In Care Council
Schools Parliament
LSCB Young Advisors
Formal and informal consultations
Focus groups through children’s centres, youth groups, voluntary sector
organisations
Project evaluation
Compliments, complaints and feedback.
Making the best use of resources by being outcome-led and evidence-based in
delivering efficient and effective support for children, young people and their families.
This includes transforming our services by developing new ways of working that
empower children, their families and their communities – doing with, rather than
doing things to them or for them. Building the collective strengths, capabilities and
resilience of all of our children will enable us to deliver sustainable change in local
communities and ensure services are secured for the future.
Supporting and developing a confident, motivated and skilled workforce so that
they have the capacity to deliver support in the most effective way to help children,
young people and their families. This includes providing training and development
opportunities; implementing new ways of working including agile working;
strengthening quality of professional practice through practice standards, regular
auditing and reflective learning; and using the feedback from children and young
people as a way of knowing we are making the difference.
3.2 Transformation Plan Priorities
Our major actions to support the delivery of the Transformation Plan include:
Promoting Fair City principles and publishing a Fair City Policy Statement
Achieving Fair City principles outcomes
Securing Living Wage Foundation accreditation
Delivering training and guidance to contract managers and project officers
Working with partners to develop a Fair City Forum.
3.3 Workforce Priorities
Our staff are our greatest asset and we will continue to develop a workforce that has the
confidence, capacity and capability to deliver the right support, at the right time and in the
best way to achieve improved outcomes for children, young people and their families.
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Workforce planning is an important aspect of workforce development and business planning
and we will focus on securing the ‘right people, skills, place, time and cost’ over the coming
year. This will include looking at issues such as succession planning, critical roles and talent
management, apprenticeships and support for new entrants to the Directorate.
We will also devote more time to leadership and management skills, building the framework
for development and progression across the Directorate.
The essential elements of our workforce activities over the next 12 months include:
Delivering the Recruitment and Retention Strategy
Delivering the workforce development elements of the SEND strategy
Implementing the ASYE support programme
Developing positive Student placements
Strengthening our ‘Step up to social care’ arrangements
Implementing an Apprenticeships Programme across the Directorate i.e. social care,
family support, leadership, administration
Seeking apprenticeship opportunities for our Care Leavers
Supporting the implementation and embedding of Graded Care Profile 2 and Signs of
Safety
Delivering a comprehensive learning and development programme for foster carers
Developing the Cheshire and Merseyside Teaching Partnership
Delivering the Liverpool Waves of Hope, Households into Work training programmes
Commissioning the multi-agency workforce offer based around Adverse Child
Experiences (ACEs), ACEs parenting programme, Solihull (attachment) approach and
on-line resource for parents, and restorative practice
Establishing the Children’s and Families Academy.
3.4 Additional Directorate Priorities
Additional priorities for the directorate include:
Making the best use of resources, ensuring that our financial planning and monitoring
systems are robust, our demand management proposal are effectively project
managed, and our commissioning strategy and our commissioned providers deliver
improved outcomes for children and their families.
Supporting and developing a confident, motivated and skilled workforce, ensuring
that our recruitment, retention and progression arrangements provide staff with the
knowledge, skills and confidence to support children and their families effectively and
in a way that encourages independence and resilience.
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3. Key Projects for 2018/2019
Our Key Work Programmes for 2018-19
In addition to the delivery of our core business activities there a number of key work
programmes that will support delivery of our priorities. These are:
Developing our proposals to secure Child Friendly City status, with a focus on the
rights of the child and building a framework to assist us in becoming more child-
friendly in all aspects of governance, environment and services;
Re-launching the Liverpool Promise to focus on improving educational standards
and performance including attainment and attendance for all children;
Delivering the Children’s Social Care Improvement Plan to focus on improving the
quality, consistency and impact of social care practice ;
Developing and delivering a NEET (Not in Employment, Education or Training)
strategy to focus on the employment and skills of all our young people including
the most vulnerable;
Delivering the Children’s Services Recruitment and Retention Strategy to recruit,
retain and grow our workforce for the future;
Delivering the Children’s Transformation Board work programme, which includes
work around the first 1,000 days of a child’s life, the community model of service
delivery involving children’s centres, children’s mental health and wellbeing, neuro
disabilities including autism, better support for disabled children, and more
effective support for transitions.
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4. Delivery Plan and Performance Management
Our directorate will continue to focus on the delivery of quality services during a time of
significant change and transformation, ensuring that all our children and young people
have the support they need to fulfil their potential.
Our Improvement Plan for Children’s Social Care and our plans for improving education
across the city will be the main areas of focus for our work programme. Underpinned by
our existing Early Help Strategy, this work will see an even greater emphasis on the pace
of change, strengthening the efficiency and effectiveness of our service offer, and
securing the best value for money in the use of our resources to improve the outcomes
for children.
Our work to support and develop staff will also continue apace, particularly for our newly
qualified Social Workers. We recognise that our staff are our greatest asset. This view
also extends to those who work for our partner agencies and within the voluntary, faith
and community sectors across the city and so alongside our internal workforce
development programmes we will continue to collaborate with multi-agency workforce
development both via the Liverpool Safeguarding Children Board and through the
Families Programme-funded early help activities.
This business plan sets out our priorities for delivering change and transformation to
improve the outcomes for children, young people and their families across the city.
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Inclusive Growth Plan Priorities
Priority Action/project
[Links with other Directorates &
partners]
Resources Milestones Outcome Director Lead/
Project Lead
Timeframe
1.1
Keeping
children
safe
Implement Children’s Social Care
Improvement Plan [list elements once
confirmed – need to ensure foster care
activities, ART/commissioning activities
are covered]
12 x social workers
(core budget
increase)
Revised
Improvement
Plan in place
by June 2018
The most
vulnerable are
protected
Fiona
Waddington/Social
Care Service
Managers
December
2018
Implement Signs of Safety across
Children’s Services and partner
agencies
[LSCB]
1 x SoS strategic lead (LSCB funded)
Initial training programme delivered by June 2018 Formal launch in Sept 2018
Children live in safe and supportive
families
Gail Porter/Nicky
Walsh
March 2019
Deliver the Children’s Social Care
Workforce Recruitment and Retention
Strategy
[Adult Services]
1 x Strategic
workforce lead, 1 x
workforce
coordinator, 1 x
Business Support
(Families
Programme funded)
1 x workforce
coordinator, 2 x
ASYE coordinators
(core budget)
Project Manager, 1 x
Project Support, 1 x
Practice Learning
ASYE
induction
programme
in place by
June 2018
Consistent quality
and outcomes
across all work with
vulnerable children
and young people
Fiona
Waddington/Wendy
Moss
March 2019
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lead (Teaching
Partnership funded)
Re-design of the Multi-agency Child
Exploitation procedures
[Community Services, Police]
Core budget Draft of
procedures
by July 2018
The most
vulnerable are
protected
Fiona
Waddington/Tyra
Pether
Sept 2018
Review and revise the Multi-agency
Safeguarding Arrangements
[CCG, Police, LSCB partners]
Core budget Proposals
agreed by
Oct 2018
The most
vulnerable are
protected
Gail Porter/Alan
McCarthy
March 2019
Priority Action/project
[Links with other Directorates &
partners]
Resources Milestones Outcome Director
Lead/Project
Lead
Timeframe
1.2
Aligning
Health
and Social
Care to
improve
outcomes
and
happiness
of
Develop and implement the
Community Model of Integrated Child
and Family Services with Health
partners
[Public Health]
1 x Programme Director (part funded with Alder Hey and CCG)
Community model business case agreed by June 2018 Implementation programme agreed by Sept 2018
Children have the best start in life
and are ready for learning
Suzanne
Metcalfe/x
March 2019
Develop and implement the 0-19 service model for children’s health [Public Health]
1 x Public Health consultant (Public Health funding)
Draft outline specification by Oct 2018
Children to have the best start in
life and are ready for learning
Suzanne
Metcalfe/Hazel
Patterson
March 2019
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children
and young
people
Review and revise the CAMHS service
specification and commissioning
strategy with Health and Education
partners
[CCG, Public Health]
Core budget Consultation arrangements agreed and in place by Oct 2018
Improved social, emotional and
mental health and wellbeing of
children and young people
Gail Porter/Alison
Moglione
March 2019
Develop and deliver the ‘First 1,000
days’ strategy (including Infant
Mortality action plan, integrated
2/2.5 year assessments and increase
in 2 year old take up of childcare)
[Public Health]
Core budget First 1,000 days group established by May 2018 Work programme developed by July 2018
Children have the best start in life
and are ready for learning
Suzanne
Metcalfe/Hazel
Patterson
Priority Action/project
[Links with other Directorates &
partners]
Resources Milestones Outcome Director
Lead/Project
Lead
Timeframe
1.3
Establishing
Liverpool
Develop and implement the Child
Friendly City Action Plan
[All City and Council partners]
0.2 x Programme Manager (Families Programme funded)
Leadership and governance arrangements agreed by Sept 2018
Increased participation, voice
and influence of children and young
people
Steve
Reddy/Alison
Moglione
March 2019
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as a child
friendly
city
Delivery framework developed by Oct 2018
Establish leadership,
governance and
delivery framework
for achieving
Liverpool Child
Friendly City status
Broaden the children’s participation
strategy and include an annual
survey of children across the city
[Community Services, LSCB partners,
Voluntary and Community Sector
partners]]
Core budget Draft strategy for consultation by July 2018
Increased proportion of children and young people participating
and engaging in decisions which
affect them and the city they live in
Steve Reddy/Julie
Cashin
Sept 2018
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Priority Action/project
[Links with other Directorates &
partners]
Resources Milestones Outcome Director
Lead/Project Lead
Timeframe
1.4
Children
and young
people are
educated,
skilled and
prepared
for a
successful
adulthood
[Launch of Liverpool Promise Phase 2 ]
[Head Teacher Associations, School
Improvement Limited, Liverpool
Learning Partnership]
TBC Appointment of Director of Education by June 2018
Improved achievement and
close achievement gaps
Director of
Education
December
2019
Review and revise school/education
improvement activities
[Head Teacher Associations, School
Improvement Limited]
SIL core budget Appointment of
Director of
Education by
June 2018
Improved
attendance,
progress and
attainment levels at
all key stages
Director of
Education
December
2019
Review and revise the Partnership Attendance Strategy [Head Teacher Associations, School Improvement Limited, Liverpool Learning Partnership]
Core budget £20k (Families Programme funding)
Action plan revised by June 2018
Improved attendance
Schools and
partners improve attendance and develop positive
behaviour
Director of
Education
Sept 2018
Implement the Whole School
Approach to Mental Health action plan
£60k (Families Programme funding)
Trailblazer status by June 2018
Improved social, emotional and
mental health and
Gail Porter/Caroline
O’Neill
Sept 2018
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[Head Teacher Associations, School
Improvement Limited, Liverpool
Learning Partnership]
wellbeing in school settings
Develop and deliver a Liverpool NEET
Strategy
[Community Services, Regeneration]
Core budget Consultation
workshop by
June 2018
Increased number
of young people in
education, training
and employment
Director of
Education/Elaine
McCausland
October
2018
Deliver the multi-agency Workforce
Strategy (including early help
assessment, ACE, attachment, and
restorative practice)
[LSCB partners)
£400K
(Families Programme
funding)
Restorative
Practice for
schools
commissioned
by June 2018
Consistent quality
and outcomes
across all work with
vulnerable children
and young people
Gail Porter/Wendy
Moss
March 2019
Priority Action/project
[Links with other Directorates &
partners]
Resources Milestones Outcome Director
Lead/Project Lead
Timeframe
1.5
Providing
early help
Deliver the Children’s Services Demand Management Strategy and projects
TBC Final draft of
strategy by
June 2018
Improved outcomes
for children and
young people
Steve Reddy/Alison
Moglione March 2019
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and
support to
strengthen
families
and safely
reduce the
number of
children
and young
people
becoming
looked
after by
the local
authority
Reduced demand on
services, particularly
specialist services
Deliver the Families Programme Earned Autonomy Investment Plan [Adult Services, Community Services, Health, Police and Voluntary and Community Sector partners]
£6.5m
(Families Programme
funding)
All projects
commissioned
by Sept 2018
Improved outcomes
(education
attendance, health,
employment, crime)
for 6,970 families
Gail Porter/Alison
Moglione
March 2020
Develop an all age pathway for complex needs including mental health, physical disability, substance misuse and learning disability
[Adult Services, Community Services,
Health partners]
Core budget Improved outcomes for CYP with special educational needs
and disability
Suzanne
Metcalfe/Martin
Lawton
Implement Graded Care Profile (neglect) across Children’s Services and partner agencies [Community Services, LSCB partners, Voluntary and Community sector partners]
(LSCB funding) Training programme complete by Oct 2019 Monitoring and data capture arrangements in place by Jan 2019
Children live in supportive families
Suzanne
Metcalfe/Nicky
Walsh
March 2019
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Strengthen Children’s Service’s response to domestic abuse as part of the corporate Domestic Abuse Strategy (including embedding of PCSO presence in Early Help Hubs) [LSCB partners, Voluntary and Community sector partners]
£485k (Families Programme funding) (Home Office funding) Core budget
Service to support children commissioned by Sept 2018
Children live in safe families
Suzanne
Metcalfe/Trish
Berry
March 2019
Deliver the multi-agency Workforce
training for Early Help Assessment
(linked to LSCB Levels of Need)
(Families Programme
funding – see above) Updated
training
programme in
place by July
2018
Consistent quality
and outcomes
across all work with
vulnerable children
and young people
Suzanne
Metcalfe/Trish
Berry
March 2019
Priority Action/project
[Links with other Directorates &
partners]
Resources Milestones Outcome Director
Lead/Project Lead
Timeframe
1.6 Children
and young
people have
equality of
opportunity
Strengthen Liverpool’s Care Leaver
Offer
[LSCB partners]
TBC
2 x Personal
Advisors
Draft offer by
July 2018
Increased number of
Care Leavers in
education, training
and employment,
suitable and stable
accommodation and
with good physical
Fiona
Waddington/Steve
Moutray
Sept 2018
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regardless of
circumstance
health and emotional
wellbeing
Strengthen Liverpool’s Local Offer
and the Early Help Directory
[LSCB partners, Voluntary and
Community sector partners]
Core budget Improved outcomes for children and
young people with special educational
needs and disability, and vulnerable
children
Suzanne
Metcalfe/Karen
Gleave & Trish Berry
September
2018
Review the Anti Bullying and Anti
Homophobic Strategies to include
response to young people who
identify as transgender
[Community Services, Head
Teacher Associations, School
Improvement Limited, Liverpool
Learning Partnership]
Core budget Draft
strategies by
July 2018
Improved outcomes
for vulnerable
children and young
people
Gail Porter/Paul
Dagnall
September
2018
Implement Children’s Services
contribution to the Controlling
Migration Fund Action Plan
[Communities, Regeneration,
Adults]
£ (Home Office funding)
Commissioning and recruitment plans in place by July 2018
Improve outcomes for vulnerable
children and young people
Gail Porter/Paul
Dagnall & Claire
Campbell
October
2018
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Transformation Plan Priorities
Ref no:
Actions Timescales Milestones/ Targets
Resource Expected Outcomes Lead Officer
Links with Directorates
Leadership:
Work with partners to develop a Fair City Forum
Publish a Fair City Policy Statement
By March 2019
Forum established by December 2018 Policy Statement by January 2019
Core budget Strong leadership and clear ambition for Liverpool to be
a Fair City
Steve Reddy
Regeneration Adult Services Community Services Corporate Services
Expectations:
Conduct self-assessment against Fair City principles and outcomes
Promote Fair City principles through targeted communication campaigns
By March 2019
Draft assessment framework by December 2018 Communications plan in place by December 2018
Core budget Fair city principles and standards understood and
agreed
Steve Reddy
Regeneration Adult Services Community Services Corporate Services
Delivery:
Securing Living Wage Foundation accreditation
Delivering training and guidance to contract
By March 2019
Outline accreditation application developed by
Core budget Established reputation of Liverpool as an accredited
‘Living Wage’ city
Steve Reddy
Regeneration Adult Services Community Services
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Ref no:
Actions Timescales Milestones/ Targets
Resource Expected Outcomes Lead Officer
Links with Directorates
managers and project officers
December 2018 Outline training programme developed by December 2018
Corporate Services
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Measures – How will we know we are achieving for children and young people?
Directorate
Priority Ref
Measure Baseline Period Latest
Published Available
Baseline
Stat N Reg Eng Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Target Year End
2018-19
Milestones 2018-19
Children’s Services Early
Help and Social Care
1.1 1.5
1.a Number of children looked after
31st March 18
1213 1184 1154 1144 1124 1124
1.1 1.5
1.b Rate of children looked after per 10 k
31st March 18
131.51 100.20 86.00 62.00 128.3 125.1 124.0 121.8 121.8
1.1 1.5
2. Rate of referrals per 10 k population to Children’s Social Care
2017-18 731.0 656.69 593.20 548.20 728 725 723 720 720.0
1.1 1.5
3. Rate of children subject to a CP plan per 10k
31st March 2018
40.2 66.8 54.0 43.0 43 45 48 50 50.0
1.1 1.5
Number of children subject to MACE plan
No baseline
Reportable from Quarter 2 onwards Increase
1.2 4. Children in care with an up to date dental check recorded
31st March 18
69% 83% 82% 75% 80% 85% 90% > 90%
1.2 5. Children in care with an up to date health assessment recorded
31st March 18
84% 94% 91% 85% 87% 89% 90% >90%
1.5 6. Rate per 10k of EHATs Completed (child beneficiaries)
31st March 18
328 Not available 331 341 351 361 361
1.5 7. Rate of children who start to become looked after per 10k
31st March 2018
47.5 47 34 46 45 44 43 43
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1.5 8. Number of young 16/17 who present as homeless
Reported from Q2 onwards
Not available NA Reduc
e
1.3
9. Proportion of children (over 4) who participate in their looked after reviews
March 2018
82% Not available 84% 86% 88% 90% >=90
%
16 10. Care leavers who are NEET (19-21)
March 18 46.4% 46.9% 49% 50% 47% 48% 49% 50% 50%
1.6 11. Care leavers living in suitable accommodation
2016-17 95.4% 85.6% 87% 84% 95% 95% 95% 95% >=95%
Public Health
1.2 12.a Rate of childhood obesity – Reception
2017 26.79% 22.63
% 23.88
% 22.63%
Public Health Directorate Management Plan for monitoring
only by Children’s Services
1.2 12. b Rate of childhood obesity – aged 10-11
2017 37.9% 37.97 35.21
% 34.25%
1.2 13. Hospital admissions for dental cavities (0-4)
2015-16 562.1 * * 241.4
1.2 14. Hospital admissions for alcohol –specific conditions 0-17 rate per 10 k
2016-17 253.9
1.2 15. Hospital admissions for mental health conditions
2016-17 115.3 95.60 106.7 81.5
1.2 16. Hospital admissions due to substance misuse (15-24)
2016-17 116.2
* 131.0 89.8
1.2 17. Hospital admissions as a result of self-harm (10-24)
2016-17 401.0 * 474.0 404.6
1.2 18 Child Mortality Rate (1-17)
2014-16 10.9 * 14.3 11.6
1.6 19. Number of children in low income families
2015 28% 24.1% * 16.80%
Communities 1.1 1.3
20. First time entrants to youth justice system
2016 378.5 430.02 293.7 327.1
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1.4
Communities Directorate Plan – for monitoring only by Children’s
Services
1.1 1.3 1.4
21. Young people receiving a conviction per 1,000 10-17 population
2017 1.44 0.41 0.54 0.41
Children’s Services Families
Programme
1.5 22. Number of families with multiple and complex needs who are supported through the families programme
31st March 2018
1802 Not Available 425 425 425 425 1700
1.3 23. Children who report they feel listened to and have influence
No baseline – in development
Adults
1.5 24. Family homelessness
2016/17 0.9 * 1.0 1.9 Adult’s Directorate Plan – for monitoring only by Children’s
Services 1.6 25. Number of young carers 31st March
18 253
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Directorate Priority Ref
Measure Baseline Period Latest
Published Available
Baseline
Core Cities**
Stat N
Reg Eng Term 1
Term 2 Term 3
Q4 Target Year End
2018-19
Education
1.2 26. Proportion of children achieving a good level of development
2016-17 62.1%
67.67 67.9% 70.7% 68%
1.4 27.a Proportion of schools good or outstanding – Primary
31st March 18
82%
90%
1.4 27.b Proportion of schools good or outstanding –Secondary
31st March 18
41%
50%
1.4 27.c Proportion of schools good or outstanding –Special
31st
March 18 100%
100%
1.4 28.a Reduce Persistent Absence Primary
2016- 17 11.2%
9.87% 8.6% 8.3% * * * -1%
1.4 28. b Reduce Persistent Absence Secondary
2016-17 16.6%
16.4% 13.8% 13.5% * * * -1%
1.4 28. c Reduce Persistent Absence Special
2016-17 34.9%
28.5% * * * -1%
1.4 29.a Attendance Rates Primary
2016-17 95.4%
96% * * * 96%
1.4 29.b Attendance Rates Secondary
2016-17 93.9%
94.6% * * * 95%
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1.4 29. c Attendance Rates Special
2016-17 86.3%
90.3% * * * 90%
1.4 30. Rate of Permanent Exclusions per 10k pop
2016-17 0.24
0.08 * * * 0.16
1.4 31.a % achieving expected standard in reading KS1
2016-17 67%
73% 73% 76%
Core City Ave
1.4 31. b % achieving expected standard in writing KS1
2016-17 57%
66% 66% 68% Core City Ave
1.4 31. c % achieving expected standard in maths KS1
2016-17 66%
73% 73% 75% Core City Ave
1.4 32. % achieving expected standard Reading Writing and Maths (KS2)
2016-17 58%
62% 61% 61% Core City Ave
1.4 33. Average progress 8 score 2016-17 -0.29
-0.26 -0.14 *
Core City Ave
1.6 34. Average Progress 8 Score FSM
2016-17 -0.65 -0.66 -0.61 -0.48 Core City Ave
1.6 35. Average progress 8 score - disadvantaged pupils
2016-17 -0.62 -0.59 -0.55 -0.40 Core City Ave
1.6 36. Average progress 8 score - pupils with SEN support
2016-17 -0.62 -0.47 -0.52 -0.43 Core City Ave
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1.6 37. Average progress 8 score - pupils with EHCP
2016-17 -1.36 -1.33 -1.11 -1.04 Core City Ave
1.6 38. Percentage of 16/17 with SEND who are NEET / Not known
31st March 18
20.2% 9.3% 19.8% 19.5% 19.2% -1%
Regeneration 1.4 39. Percentage all 16/17 who are NEET / Not Known
2016-17 11.3%
5.60
% 11.0% 10.7% 10.3% -1%
*To be agreed for 18-19 academic year following release of results and performance data for 17-18 at end of academic year
** From 18-19 onwards education performance will be benchmarked and targets will be set based upon Core City averages
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5. Risks and Mitigation
Risk Mitigations
LCC’s safeguarding arrangements are
not robust, resulting in a possible
death or serious injury to a child or
young person.
Reputational and legal risk for the
Council
Membership of Liverpool Safeguarding Children’s Board
Compliance with Section 175 audit requirements
Workforce training strategy including LSCB training – regular reviews of staff training and supervision.
Quality Assurance Framework being refreshed
Increasing numbers of looked after
children lead to higher than
recommended caseloads for social
workers, impacting on the quality of
practice and resulting in children and
young people not achieving the best
outcomes.
Financial risk (placement costs) for
the Council
Demand Management Strategy including
investment in Early Help as part of
Families Programme Earned Autonomy
Quality Assurance Framework being refreshed
Performance management framework and data dashboards being refreshed - appropriate support and intervention, particularly for cases on the edge of care to avoid escalation
Additional social work resource agreed (12 posts)
AD for Social Care chairing Legal Gatekeeping Panel
Implementation of changes to the
Children and Social Work Act 2017
legislation requiring Councils to
provide personal advisers to care
leavers up to the age of 25 is not
robust, young people not achieving
the best outcomes.
Financial and reputational risk for the
Council
Increase of FTE resources for the Leaving Care team (5 FTEs (Grade 5) and 1 FTE Consultant Social Worker (Grade 8)).
Review of national, core city and statistical neighbour best practice
Establishment of Task and Finish partnership group to oversee development of revised Care Leaver Offer.
Improvements in school attendance
progression and attainment are not
sufficient to close the achievement
gap in comparison with
national/statistical neighbour
averages, resulting in children and
Appointment of Director of Education post underway
Liverpool Promise review completed and revised arrangements being developed
Review of school improvement activities underway
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young people not achieving the best
outcomes.
Reputational risk for the Council
Increasing number of permanent
exclusions from schools in Liverpool,
placing increased pressure on the
available resources particularly when
their needs can’t be met from
mainstream provision, resulting in
children and young people not
achieving the best outcomes.
Financial, legal and reputational risk
for the Council
Review of New Protocol processes and procedures completed
Review of Fair Access Panel arrangements commissioned
Establishment of Inclusion Programme Board to oversee effectiveness of inclusion provision across the city
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6. Monitoring, Review and Refresh
Our business plan will be subject to regular progress monitoring and review. This will
include:
Monthly reviews of performance and quality data at the Directorate’s Performance
and Quality Assurance Boards;
Monthly reviews of financial data at the Budget Management Group meeting;
Quarterly reviews of progress at the Directorate Management Team meetings,
Service Manager meetings, team meetings and through individual Performance &
Development reviews;
Annual review of progress against agreed actions and the production of an annual
report.
Progress updates will also be presented corporately via:
Corporate Programme Management Board
Management Team
Director of Children’s Services Performance and Development reviews.
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Appendix One
Statutory Responsibilities Roles and Responsibilities of the Director of Children’s Services (DCS) and Lead Member for Children’s Services (LMCS)
Local authorities are bound by some 200 statutory duties covering education and children’s social care. The way in which the roles and responsibilities of the DCS and LMCS are fulfilled will vary between different places and change over time. This guidance does not attempt to cover all these duties in detail but the key aspects of those roles are outlined below.
Leadership and partnership The DCS and LMCS work together to provide strong, strategic local leadership and development of an increasingly autonomous and diverse education and children’s services sector. Working with headteachers, school governors and academy sponsors and principals, the DCS and LMCS should support the drive for high educational standards for all children and young people, paying particular attention to the most disadvantaged groups. They should also ensure that children's services are integrated across the council, for example to support a smooth transition from children’s to adults’ services. The DCS and LMCS should involve and listen to parents, carers, children and young people. The DCS and LMCS have a key role in ensuring that the local voluntary and community sector, charities, social enterprises, the private sector and children and young people themselves are included in the scope of local authority planning, commissioning and delivery of children’s services where appropriate. Section 10 of the Children Act 2004 places a duty on local authorities and certain named partners (including health) to co-operate to improve children’s well-being. The DCS and LMCS must lead, promote and create opportunities for co-operation with local partners (for example, health, police, schools, housing services, early years, youth justice, probation, higher and further education, and employers) to improve the well-being of children and young people. Local authorities must also (by virtue of the Child Poverty Act 2010 1 establish local co-operation arrangements to reduce child poverty, prepare and publish a local child poverty needs assessment, and prepare a local child poverty strategy. As a statutory member of local health and wellbeing boards, the DCS will have a clear role in driving the development of the local Joint Strategic Needs Assessment (JSNA) and joint health and wellbeing strategy. The DCS will promote the interests of children, young people and their families. The DCS will also help join up local commissioning plans for clinical and public health services with children’s social care and education, where appropriate, to address the identified local needs through the JSNA and Joint Health and Wellbeing Strategy. The DCS will make a key contribution to ensuring effective working relationships between the health and wellbeing board and the LSCB. The DCS is responsible for any agreements made under section 75 of the National Health Service (NHS) Act 2006 between the local authority and NHS relating to children and young people – for example, pooled budgets for commissioning and/or delivering integrated services covering children’s health, social care and education.
Local authorities must comply with the duties set out in the Equality Act 2010, which means that, as well as ensuring that they do not discriminate unlawfully, DCSs LMCSs must take into account the likely impact of their policies and decisions on specified groups. In doing so, particular
1 Although the local authority duties under the Child Poverty Act 2010 are not included in the Section 18(2) definition of functions for which the DCS / LMCS are automatically responsible, local authorities may nonetheless consider it appropriate to assign them to the DCS
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consideration should be given to Article 2 of the UNCRC. Local authorities should also maintain an audit trail to demonstrate how equalities matters were considered as part of the decision-making process.
Safeguarding Section 11 of the Children Act 2004 requires local authorities and other named statutory partners to make arrangements to ensure that their functions are discharged with a view to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children. There is a similar requirement imposed on schools2. This should ensure that safeguarding is integral to all that local authorities, schools and other named partners do. The DCS and LMCS should ensure that there are clear and effective arrangements to protect children and young people from harm (including those attending independent schools). Local authorities are also required to set up a LSCB to coordinate the effectiveness of arrangements to safeguard and promote the welfare of children and young people in that area.
The DCS has the responsibility within the local authority for improving outcomes for children and young people, children’s social care functions and local cooperation arrangements for children’s services.3
The DCS should always be a member of the LSCB. However, it is the responsibility of the Chief Executive (Head of Paid Service) to appoint or remove the LSCB chair, with an appointment panel involving Board members and lay members. The Chief Executive, drawing on other Board partners and, where appropriate, the Lead Member will hold the Chair to account for the effective working of the LSCB and will be held to account for the effective working of the LSCB4.
The LMCS should be a “participating observer” of the LSCB; they may engage in discussions but not be part of the decision making process in order to provide the LMCS with the independence to challenge the DCS (and others) when necessary. The DCS also has a crucial role in ensuring collaboration and dialogue with the family courts so that high quality local authority assessments
and other evidence contribute to effective and timely court processes for children.
Vetting and barring scheme DCSs and LMCSs will not be in regulated activity in relation to children just by virtue of undertaking those posts. The Government will publish detailed information about workplace safeguarding in good time for commencement of the new Vetting and Barring Scheme arrangements.
Vulnerable children and young people
Local authorities should work with partners to promote prevention and early intervention and offer early help so that emerging problems are dealt with before they become more serious. This will help to improve educational attainment, narrow the gaps for the most disadvantaged and promote the wider well-being of children and young people, including at key transition points.
2 In accordance with section 175 of the Education Act 2002 if they are maintained or the Independent School Standards set out pursuant to section 157 of that Act if they are independent schools, including Academies and Free Schools 3 Section 18 of the Children Act 2004. DfE guidance expands on this role 4 Working Together to Safeguard Children 3.12 - 3.13
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More specifically, the DCS and LMCS in their respective roles:
have a shared responsibility with all officers and members of the local authority to act as effective and caring corporate parents for looked after children, with key roles in improving their educational attainment, providing stable and high quality placements and proper planning for when they leave care;
must ensure that disabled children and those with special educational needs (SEN) can access high quality provision that meets their needs and fund provision for children with statements of SEN;
must ensure arrangements are in place for alternative provision for children outside mainstream education or missing education (e.g. due to permanent exclusion or illness) to receive suitable full-time education;
should ensure there is coherent planning between all agencies providing services for children involved in the youth justice system (including those leaving custody), secure the provision of education for young people in custody and ensure that safeguarding responsibilities are effectively carried out; and
should understand local need and secure provision of services taking account of the benefits of prevention and early intervention and the importance of co- operating with other agencies to offer early help to children, young people and families.
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Fair access to services
Local authorities should promote the interests of children, young people, parents and families and work with local communities to stimulate and support a diversity of school, early years and 16-19 provision that meets local needs. More specifically, the DCS and LMCS in their respective roles:
must ensure fair access to all schools for every child in accordance with the statutory School Admissions and School Admissions Appeal Codes and ensure appropriate information is provided to parents;
must ensure provision for suitable home to school transport arrangements;
should actively promote a diverse supply of strong schools, including by encouraging good schools to expand and, where there is a need for a new school, seeking proposals for an Academy or Free School;
should promote high quality early years provision, including helping to develop the market, securing free early education for all three and four year olds and for all disadvantaged two year olds5, providing information, advice and assistance to parents and prospective parents, and ensuring there are sufficient Sure Start children’s centre services to meet local need and sufficient childcare for working parents;
must secure access for young people to sufficient educational and recreational leisure-time activities and facilities for the improvement of their well-being and personal and social development;
should promote children’s and young people’s participation in public decision- making so they can influence local commissioners; and
should promote participation in education or training of young people, including by securing provision for young people aged 16-19 (or 25 for those with learning difficulties/disabilities).
5 The free entitlement to early education for disadvantaged two year olds became statutory in 2013
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Educational excellence
25) Working with headteachers, school governors and academy sponsors and principals, local authorities should promote educational excellence for all children and young people and be ambitious in tackling underperformance. More specifically, the DCS and LMCS should in their respective roles:
take rapid and decisive action in relation to poorly performing schools, including using their intervention powers with regard to maintained schools and considering alternative structural and operational solutions;
develop robust school improvement strategies, including choosing whether to offer such services in a competitive and open school improvement market, working beyond local authority boundaries;
promote high standards in education by supporting effective school to school collaboration and providing local leadership for tackling issues needing attention which cut across more than one school, such as poor performance in a particular subject area across a cluster of schools;
support maintained schools in delivering an appropriate National Curriculum and early years providers in meeting the requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage (as outlined in the EYFS Statutory Framework);
establish a schools forum for their area, maintain a scheme for financing maintained schools and provide financial information; and
undertake specified responsibilities in relation to staffing and governance of maintained schools.