As councils prepare for a new budget-setting period, across the country they are grappling with longstanding but mounting pressures in children’s services. A surge in demand, coupled with a swirling tide of legislative and policy changes, means councils are tasked with not only managing but adapting and innovating – steering their ships through ever turbulent waters.
Now more than ever, the imperative for comprehensive, whole-system transformation is palpable. At Peopletoo, we firmly believe that this should not be just about navigating the storm but charting a course for a sustainable, enriched future for our children and communities.
Short-term and long-term financial sustainability
Whilst councils have been responding to increased demand for years, the first quarter of this financial year has shown this is escalating.
Successfully navigating the imperative to reduce in-year spend and set a balanced budget for next year and beyond, whilst transforming services, responding to new statutory duties, and keeping the show on the road operationally, can seem like an impossible puzzle to solve. But it doesn’t need to be.
Financial efficiency can – and should – go hand-in-hand with improved service delivery. Better quality and better outcomes for children and young people should ultimately cost public services less. However, it requires a clear vision, brave leadership, and a whole-council commitment to not only making the right short-term decisions but looking beyond the ‘here and now’ to shift resources downstream and invest in the services that make the greatest difference.
Reform, Reform, Reform
With the DfE ushering in a plethora of policy and legislative changes, councils will mainly be welcoming some form of response to the issues they have shouted about for many years. But they will also be feeling daunted by the need to implement strategic, operational, multi-agency, and regional changes at a time when their ‘to do’ list has never been longer. Whilst Directors of Children’s Services are thinking about how to best keep children safe, continually improve services, and operate within reduced financial resources, it’s important that the opportunities presented by sector reform are clearly thought through.
It is crucial that the reforms are integrated into overall strategies and programmes of change, and are seen as key enablers, rather than duties to meet; opportunities to rethink and reimagine local strategies and services.
Innovation equals success
We know from the work we do across the country that one of the greatest challenges councils and children’s services face is finding the space and time to plan, seek out innovation and best practice, and develop solutions that meet their needs.
Up and down the country, there are excellent examples of councils that have pioneered change with excellent results (Leeds’ Family Values programme, North Yorkshire’s No Wrong Door, and Camden’s Connected Communities model, to name a few) but we know that councils cannot just ‘copy and paste’ models from other areas and expect the same level of change in their area.
Solutions must be bespoke and tailored to the local context in which they are required – and they must be co-designed by those who will receive, and those who will deliver, the services involved.
At Peopletoo, we can bring knowledge of what is being done, and what is working elsewhere. We can bring empathy and ‘real life’ experience of having led and managed these types of services within councils. But, most crucially, we can bring the energy and skills to help you find the right solutions for you.
Designing and delivering whole-system transformation
Children’s services represents a delicate ecosystem that is often finely balanced. One change in one part of the system can have a significant unintended consequence elsewhere. But that also means there are opportunities to make a big difference, with intelligently designed and carefully implemented initiatives.
When councils are thinking about how to improve outcomes and reduce cost, it’s crucial that they understand the connectivity between all services – internally and externally – across the continuum of children’s services support. Isolated projects will never help councils make the sustainable and meaningful change they want to see a reality. We can help councils understand the relationship and dependencies between different parts of the system, and help them to model the likely impact of changes across different areas.
Change is the only constant in life
Or should that be “in Children’s Services”? In arguably the most complex area of local government, it must often feel like the sector is jumping from one challenge to another. But that is reflective of children and young people that councils are there to support; everyone changes and has different needs all the time. It isn’t an easy policy or service delivery area, but nothing as rewarding ever is.