The government is to make up to £20 million available to encourage different children’s services departments to cooperate with each other.
Children’s Minister Robert Goodwill made the announcement at a social work conference in Bournemouth this week. A resulting series of “regional improvement alliances” between neighbouring authorities will be focused on sharing best practice and priorities for improvement, as well as defining broader standards.
These new alliances will be central to a current government initiative to improve children’s social care. The DfE hopes to have them established in every region of England by next spring.
The MP for Scarborough and Whitby said:
“Too many young people and their families are being let down by poor quality services – or worse, left at risk of harm. My commitment is that we will build a self-improving system, one that spots where challenges are emerging and quickly puts the right support in place.”
Image by Hernán Piñera via Flickr
