December 2016
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Sessions at this seminar brought together policymakers and key stakeholders to consider the future for children’s services, including discussion regarding the latest thinking on best practice, accountability, collaboration and innovation.
It took place as Ofsted considered responses to its consultation on changing its inspection regime for children’s services and following its Social Care Annual Report, which cited leadership as the key to transforming failing services. The conference was also timed as the Children and Social Work Bill made its way through Parliament, with provisions to exempt local authorities from certain statutory duties in order to test new ways of working - and as a review into the role of local authorities in children’s services was due to consider responses to its consultation.
Delegates considered the future outlook for children’s services, and assessed what examples of best practice in promoting innovation, efficiency and whole-system transformation in children’s services look like. Attendees also considered the initial impact and implementation of government’s new accountability measures for children’s services, which could see failing services taken over by high-performing local authorities, experts and charities.
With cuts to council budgets, delegates discussed challenges faced by councils in maintaining high-quality services, in light of the Children’s Commissioner’s calls for a review into how children’s services will respond to decreases in funding.
