At Barnardo’s, children will always come first. When we hear of children who are being let down, as they’re not getting the help they need and are entitled to, it’s a big concern to us.
That’s why we have a vested interest in making sure the right services are in place to support children and families, especially those who are most vulnerable, and that those services are of the highest standard wherever they may be across the UK.
The government prioritising tackling failing children’s services in local authorities across England is a really positive move. Its proposal is for children’s services found floundering to be taken over by other high-performing local authorities or by teams of experts and charities. The proposed approach supports a more structured and coordinated intervention.
As the government looks into how to make that plan a reality, we will be sharing what we’ve learned from developing and delivering services for children over our long history.
As a charity we’re going to reach a significant milestone in 2016 – we will have been helping the UK’s children for 150 years. Over the years we’ve learned a great deal about services for vulnerable children, and gained a unique insight into what works and what doesn’t.
Barnardo’s works with more than 240,000 children, young people and their families every year in 960 services across the country.
We support children through our own services, and within strategic partnership with local authorities. We know that there is some extremely good work going on in children services across England as well as elsewhere in the UK. We’ve seen this firsthand through our extensive work with local authorities.
For example, we have a strategic partnership in Newport, where our team is integrated with local authority staff. Newport was not a failing authority in the first place, but we worked hand in hand to see how we could increase the pace of improvement of key services. We are three years in and the partnership approach is showing some really positive results.
But in some local authorities there are areas recognised as needing huge improvement. It makes sense for them to learn from others’ experience and expertise, including our own, in looking for the best ways to improve the quality of children’s services.
I would add that we can also work with children and families in a way that statutory services often can’t, mainly because we bring a level of trust and relationships with families and their communities that statutory services often find difficult to achieve. This makes a real difference, especially when working with local partners to improve systems and outcomes for children.
Some of the most vulnerable children we work with have multiple needs – for example safeguarding and mental health. We know what works, and have expertise in making sure children and young people get the help they need. Barnardo’s can make links across services, which help to avoid anything falling through the cracks.
It’s essential for children and families that effective services are in place, and where they aren’t, any change in structure is handled well. We are keen to share our expertise in helping to ensure that is the reality. We know that frontline social workers are also committed to finding the best solution for supporting children, and our work aims to help them meet their really difficult challenges.
We also know joined-up working and information sharing across agencies is vital to keep children safe. This is why it’s so important local authorities and national government use this opportunity to get children’s services right.
I will be sitting at a round table with the education secretary, Nicky Morgan, in the new year to discuss this. It will be an opportunity to look at how any improvement support would work. But my view is quite simple – when it comes to ensuring vulnerable children are protected, all options have to be considered.
