It’s been two weeks in my new post within Peopletoo as a Service Director, so what are my reflections?
As we will all agree children’s services are facing a crisis of funding, demand and quality. Local authorities are struggling to meet their statutory duties to protect and support vulnerable children and families, while also facing severe budget cuts and rising costs. The pandemic and everything that followed has added further pressure on the system.
In thinking about moving into the private sector after a career spent in local government, I considered some of the current issues facing children’s services, and how an organisation like Peopletoo plays a role in helping local authorities to address these challenges.
One of the most urgent issues facing children’s services is spiraling cost and the funding gap. Between 2009/10 and 2021/22, spending on safeguarding children and young people increased by 27.1%. Nationally, all 151 councils with children’s services responsibility overspent by £946.5 million. The funding gap has naturally led to councils being caught in the ‘Catch 22’ trap of wanting to prioritise preventative services, which will help families before they reach the point of breakdown but as spending on safeguarding children and young people’s services continues to increase, that very public pound that is needed so much is instead spent on reactive driven services to safeguard children in need of urgent help and protection.
I have seen Peopletoo help address this funding gap by providing innovative and cost-effective transformation solutions for children’s services. I have seen first-hand the transformation on offer; flexible and tailored packages of support such as mentoring and leadership development, whilst also able to focus on wholescale transformation of overspending directorates. I wanted to be part of it!
The system needs support. A series of inspection failures for some local authorities and partnerships, missed opportunities within serious incident involving children and young people and a workforce crisis contributed to calls for change. The quality improvement issue has led to calls for radical overhauls of the system to ensure that children’s social care is fit for purpose. The government-commissioned independent review of children’s social care, led by Josh MacAlister, published its case for change in June 2021, which highlighted the need for a “once-in-a-generation” reform of the system. The review proposed a new vision for children’s social care, based on the principles of family, stability, belonging and love. The system cried out for more funding and new ways of achieving these age old goals.
Peopletoo has supported the improvement in quality of children’s services by sharing best practice and learning from other sectors and countries. What I have noticed since starting with Peopletoo is that we can also leverage economies of scale and expertise to deliver high-quality services at lower costs than the local authorities I have worked with in the past.
It was in this analysis that I concluded the solution of the future lies in a mature, value-driven partnership between public and private, where support is commissioned to add capacity and expertise to assist councils in transforming services and improving outcomes.
Children’s services are facing a range of complex and interrelated issues that require urgent and collaborative action from all parties involved. Peopletoo can play a vital role in supporting local authorities to address these issues, by providing expertise, capacity, and a track record of designing solutions to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of children’s services. However, Peopletoo cannot act alone or in isolation. It needs to work in partnership with local authorities, as well as with other public and voluntary sector organisations, to ensure that children’s services are delivered in a coherent, coordinated and child-centred way. Ultimately, the goal of all parties should be to create a system that enables every child to thrive and achieve their potential. Peopletoo, and my role within the organisation, has a vital role to play in supporting local authorities to address the challenges in children’s services. By working together in partnership we can achieve better outcomes for children and families, and better value for money for taxpayers too.