Children Bill sets framework for reforms

Children’s Trusts will be “virtual”
organisations based on pooled budgets rather than new structures,
and will not mean any staff have to be transferred, it emerged last
week.

The revised plans for Children’s Trusts were outlined in
the government’s introduction to the Children Bill, the
legislative framework for many of the reforms outlined in the Green
Paper Every Child Matters.

The  Bill, published last week, would provide the
“legislative spine” for far reaching changes in the way
public services deal with children, said children’s minister
Margaret Hodge. It applies in England only, except where the Welsh
assembly has asked for provisions to apply in Wales.

The Children Bill will introduce

• Shared statutory outcomes for children across a range of 
  public services. These are: to be healthy, to stay safe, to enjoy
  and achieve, to make a positive contribution, and to achieve
  economic well-being.
• A Children’s Commissioner for England, working towards
  the same set of outcomes, and reporting annually to parliament. The
  commissioner will not investigate individual cases, but will be
  free to report on any issue of concern.
• A duty on local authorities to ensure robust partnership
  arrangements with  other local agencies to improve the well being
  of children in the area
• Key statutory agencies must have regard to the need to
  safeguard and promote the welfare of children in discharging their
  normal functions
• Statutory boards to replace Area Child Protection Committees,
  with duties to ensure the effectiveness of local arrangements and
  services to safeguard children.
• Children’s Trusts will be  “virtual”
  organisations formed through the pooling of budgets to secure
  integrated commissioning of services rather than statutory
  organisations as such.  They will not necessitate structural change
  or staff transfers and although they are  “expected” in
  every area by 2008 and in most by 2006, these deadlines will not be
  subject to legislation.
• A Director of Children’s Services in every local
  authority whose duties will cover as a minimum the responsibilities
  relating to children currently held by chief education officers and
  directors of social services. No deadline for appointments but
  expectation that all will have one by 2008. Flexibility about how
  duties are discharged. In Wales there will be a requirement to
  nominate a lead director for children’s services rather than
  appoint a single director.
• Lead council member for children’s services to cover same
  span as director of children’s services.
• Integrated inspection by Ofsted of children’s service
  within a new framework.
• New powers of intervention in line with those relating to
  education where children’s social services are
  unsatisfactory.
• Secretary of State can require databases to be set up locally,
  regionally or nationally to enable information about children to be
  shared between agencies, but only after secondary legislation which
  would have to be explicitly agreed by parliament.

The Bill also

• gives local authorities a duty to promote the educational
  achievement of looked after children;
• requires a stronger notification scheme for private foster
  carers;
• removes the current power to take children in breach of a Child
  Safety Order into care under a lower threshold than usual and
  extends the maximum duration of the order to 12 months.
   

http://www.dfes.gov.uk/everychildmatters/pdfs/EveryChildMattersNextSteps.pd