New directorate to oversee services

The Children and Young People’s Unit (CYPU) has been replaced by
the Children and Young People’s Directorate and will be controlled
by the former head of teenage support service Connexions.

From next month, the new directorate will come under the
jurisdiction of Anne Weinstock and will encompass Connexions, the
Teenage Pregnancy Unit and the Children’s Fund, which aims to
tackle child poverty and exclusion.

The directorate will run alongside four others, including Starting
Early, which covers Sure Start and will be headed by director of
Sure Start Naomi Eisenstadt, and Safeguarding Children and
Supporting Families, headed by former CYPU director Althea
Efunshile.

Heads of the other two other directorates, Local Transformation and
Workforce and Common Assessments, have not yet been appointed
because, according to the Department for Education and Skills, the
details are still being established.

From this week, Tom Jeffery will oversee all the directorates as
the first director-general for children and families at the DfES.

The department decided to re-structure its senior management team
when responsibility for policies on children and families was
transferred from the Department of Health in June.

Neera Charma, Barnardo’s principal policy officer, said: “We hope
the directorate has a clear and transparent structure that is
maintained and easy to understand.”