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Admitting responsibility for our own actions can be difficult - particularly when they have resulted in tragedy. But one of the most powerful undercurrents in Lord Laming's recommendations after the Victoria Climbie Inquiry was the desire to ensure that individuals could never again absolve themselves when things go wrong.
It is a message that the government has taken on board. Under the Children Act 2004 every local authority in England and Wales must have a lead member for children's services in place by 2008.(1)

The lead member will be accountable at a political level for the same range of children's services as the director of children's services - the other key role introduced in the act - which is, at a minimum, delivery of education, social services and delegated health services for children. Statutory guidance is expected next March after consultation on the focus for the lead member including safeguarding children.(2)

But elected councillors are a mixed bag. At best they can be idealistic champions of local democracy, at worst they can be ignorant and politically unscrupulous. The lead member for children's services will have influence in a sensitive area. What guarantees are there that they will be up to the task? How will councils ensure that they know enough to make good decisions?

James Kempton, lead member for children's services in the London Borough of Islington, feels that, although he is still learning about the role, he is helped by his background as lead member for education, as a teacher and work with the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health.

He is also vice-chair of the Local Government Association's children and young people's board. "Given my role at the LGA, I have as good an idea as anyone about what the role involves and no one would take it on without being aware of the enormous challenges. Trying to create integrated services built around the child is going to be difficult."

Kempton believes support is essential. "It's important to have that accountability, but the reality in Islington is that decisions are made collectively," he says.

Islington has a corporate parenting board, comprising members, officers and other partners, as well as a new local strategic children's board to lead integration. Including representatives from schools, the primary care trust, housing, police, Children's Fund and SureStart, the children's board met for the first time last week. In January the council will also launch a children's commission - a group of independent experts who will advise on developing children's services.

For most lead members, training will be vital. Kempton has just returned from the first two-day residential course run by the Improvement and Development Agency (Idea). Its leadership academy is an umbrella programme for lead members, with a unit for lead members of children's services. This involves the two-day course and a refresher day three months later.

The Department for Education and Skills is backing the programme and Idea's intention is for all lead members to attend over the next 18 months. It is billed as a national initiative with local tailoring. Sessions during the first two days include a whistlestop tour of the Children Act 2004, road-testing children's trust models, listening to children and inspection. The refresher day focuses on how to resource children's services.

Kempton said the course identified the scale of changes and the importance of the role. He says: "For me it was about reflecting on how important it is to start from the outcomes of what we are trying to achieve for children, which is better universal services and better targeted services."

Idea also runs a half-day modern members course that is a more generic introduction to children's services for the broader council membership. The significance of this is that, because education and social services are the two biggest departments in local authorities, children's services will account for up to 70 per cent of the budget. Consequently, councillors must understand what rests on their budgetary decisions.

Idea ran 10 regional forums specifically on children's services for lead members and senior officers in the summer and 83 per cent of councils took part.

Paul Roberts, strategic adviser for education and children's services at the Idea, says: "It was a heartening and encouraging exercise because there was a commitment about the opportunity the Children Bill provided. I think members saw a new opportunity to shape local services and to do that in a way that related to what they were hearing from their constituents."

This was one of the downfalls of councillors in the London boroughs of Haringey and Brent, where Victoria ClimbiŽ was known to a number of professionals. In Laming's view, councillors in both boroughs failed to budget adequately for children's services, leading Roberts to conclude that they were not a council priority.

Kempton says: "When we set the budget it's important that every member understands the issues and therefore we can make sure that the right decisions are taken."

Bernard Pennington, chair of Salford Council's children's services scrutiny committee, says: "The Climbie inquiry concentrated people's minds that they can't cut corners when dealing with children's lives."

A former chair of the council's finance committee, he is aware of how budgets should be spent. He says: "We have already talked about the importance of budgets and members are aware that sufficient money has to be spent."

The scrutiny committee meets once a month to look at areas of prime importance; it considers how services are working, whether more money needs to be spent, or the service needs reorganising. Occasionally special meetings are called - there has been one recently on obesity and one is due soon on bullying.

Committee members will receive specialist training. To enhance their knowledge on what is going on in the department, a social services officer will address every scrutiny committee about their particular field in children's services.

The committee works closely with the council's lead member for children's services. Although principal responsibility rests with the lead member, if something went wrong it would equally reflect on the work of the committee, says Pennington.

It was Laming who set the ball rolling. Although introducing a lead member for children's services was not one of his recommendations, on reflection he thinks the government's decision is right. "The role gives the person authority and power. Power to ask the right questions and to ask other agencies about their contribution.

"It has a real sense of purpose and clear line of responsibility so that people can't say 'I didn't know and I couldn't know'. That dissent is no longer possible."

For Laming, the lead member's role is the most exciting - but also the most challenging - job in local government for an elected member "and because of that it's a job that carries the greatest risk". He adds: "In other words, if another child suffers the way Victoria suffered they will be held accountable for any failings in the organisation."

Although some might foresee a difficult relationship between lead member and director of children's services, Laming visualises a complementary relationship between the two, with "close teamwork, different responsibilities but well defined ones".

And without these, it's unlikely that we will avoid another Victoria Climbie.

1. Government guidance on the Children Act is available from www.everychildmatters.gov.uk
2. Consultation of draft statutory guidance on the role and responsibilities of the director of children's services and the lead member for children's services ends 18 February. Go to www.dfes.gov.uk/consultations