How LG Improvement and Development can support your council

LG Improvement and Development has established a reputation as a centre for children’s services excellence and expertise. We have a network of contacts with senior managers in partner organisations, central and local government, and in the voluntary and community sector.

Our goal is to support improvement and shared learning across local government. We have a range of children’s service improvement activities available. These can respond to individual council requirements.

Children’s services peer review

This review follows the established peer review process, but focuses on key challenges of children’s services. A small team of peers and external experts will be on site for one week, providing a presentation on strengths and areas for improvement at the end of the process. The review can, if desired, be focused on specific issues identified by the authority, the directors of chidren’s services (DCS) or the Children’s Trust.

Children’s services peer review

Supporting culture change in children’s services

LG Improvement and Development , using a combination of internal advisers, associates and peers, can offer specifically designed support and challenge as a ‘critical friend’. We can explore and clarify issues facing services, support culture change activities and facilitate sharing of good practice across authorities. This also offers professional development opportunities for staff acting as peers in other authorities. The ‘made to measure’ support can target different levels of service from senior leadership to front-line.

Working with children’s trusts and local safeguarding children’s boards

In light of the legislation which will put children’s trusts on a statutory basis and focus on Local Safeguarding Children’s Board (LSCB) governance, this offer can help a trust and/or LSCB to strengthen accountability. We can provide an external challenge to the progress made by a children’s trust or LSCB in meeting the Every Child Matters (ECM) change agenda and focus on priorities for further development. The work will make use of the Audit Commission’s publication ‘Are We There Yet?’ and the Department for Children, Schools and Families’ publication ‘Working together to safeguard children’.

Work with Regional Improvement and Efficiency Partnerships (RIEPs)

Disseminating good practice

An analysis of strengths and emerging practice in individual local authorities and across the region can be produced for the RIEP. This analysis can provide the basis for the dissemination of good practice through seminars and Action Learning Sets and can provide focused contributions to regional improvement support.

Improvement conferencing

This offer engages authorities and their partners in a RIEP region and helps them to understand a particular issue by showcasing good practice and action planning. It has been successfully piloted in the West Midlands around the topic of ‘Tackling Childhood Obesity’. Other areas to be considered include looked after children and childhood poverty. This offer has the potential to kick-start ‘stuck’ issues across a region.

Two-tier and unitary authorities – the contribution of district councils

A well-developed methodology of facilitating a one-day conference involving relevant staff from district councils, the single tier children’s service authority and other trust partners already exists and has been successfully used. The event focuses on the particular needs of the area. This work can take account of budget limitations, safeguarding responsibilities and share successful practice across two-tier authorities.

Social care improvement partners

This project, modelled on school improvement partnerships, is being piloted with Coventry City Council. The pilot seeks to improve children’s services social care by making available peers or associates to provide support and mentoring to individual managers in the authority.

Tackling child poverty

We can offer support to your strategic and operational planning on this topic using Beacon council expertise and examples of successful practice from across the country. This work will be undertaken in collaboration with the Centre for Excellence and Outcomes and the Child Poverty Unit.

Corporate parenting

Does this need to be a greater priority for your whole council? Building on some successful pilot work raising awareness of this issue to middle managers across all council services, we can offer facilitated workshops which will help put this on the agenda of all council staff.

Sector-led improvement

One of our key roles is to gather and disseminate innovative practice and develop peers who can help to support other authorities and take the learning back to their home authority. We are always interested to hear from you if you have ideas to share about any aspect of the delivery of children’s services. Of particular interest at the moment is your experience of unannounced inspections and what worked.

Further information

Contact:

Isabel Fowler
Project Co-ordinator, Children’s Services
telephone: 020 7296 6567
email: isabel.fowler@idea.gov.uk

Claire Burgess
Principal Consultant, Children and Young People
telephone: 07795 347 686
email: claire.burgess@idea.gov.uk