C4EO Brief No 1 (October 2008)

Update

Governance arrangements

C4EO's Director is advised by a Programme Board, which meets quarterly and held its first meeting on 9 September. The Board is made up of the Centre's core and strategic partners, together with representatives from key stakeholders including; the Association of Directors of Children's Services (ADCS), the Department for Children, Schools and Families, the Local Government Association, Ofsted, NHS Confederation, and the Society of Local Authority Chief Executives. It is chaired by ADCS President, Dr Maggie Atkinson.

The programme board is advised by two panels to ensure that its work fully reflects the needs and views of people who use its services:

• the Children's and Young People's Network, which is managed by NCB and is made up of up to 15 children and young people aged 10 to 18
• the Parents' and Carers' Panel, which is managed by the Family & Parenting Institute

Recruitment to both panels is currently underway.

Staffing

The Centre is delighted to announce that the following staff will be starting in October.

Helen Goody, Assistant Director for Theme Co-ordination
Helen has worked for Kent County Council for the past three years as a Joint Commissioning Officer with a responsibility for planning and commissioning preventative and early intervention services for children and young people with a range of partners. Before that, Helen was a Programme Manager for integrated children's services at the Local Government Association.

Heather Rushton, Assistant Director, Planning and Performance Management
Heather has recently been Children's Services Adviser in the East Midlands. Prior to that Heather was Director for School Improvement in Bradford, building on significant local authority experience.

Narrowing the Gap

Narrowing the Gap (NtG) is a two-year programme hosted by the Local Government Association, supported by the Improvement and Development Agency and funded by the Department for Children, Schools and Families. Its aim is to narrow the gap in outcomes between vulnerable and excluded children and others, against a context of improving outcomes for all. From July this year, the programme has been integrated within the work of C4EO.

It focuses on identifying how to secure improved and sustained outcomes for children and their families with a particular focus on vulnerable groups. The products of Years 1 and 2 of NtG will contribute to the evidence of C4EO. The collaborative, sector-led methodology of NtG has and will continue to inform the development of C4EO. The C4EO Programme Board will oversee the NtG programme during Year 2 of the project.

Five key lines of enquiry were identified within the NtG programme, with three of these being covered within the first 12 months (Year 1). These were:

1. How to create and sustain the right links between schools, children's centres and children's services.
2. How to engage and support parents and carers in helping children to succeed.
3. How to use new systems and processes brought into being by Every Child Matters to orientate services more towards prevention and early intervention.

The themes for Year 2 of the programme focus on:

4. How to strengthen and align local leadership and governance arrangements – both professional and political.
5. How to strengthen systems for developing local leaders to deliver improved services based on an understanding of what works.

The final guidance for Year 1 will be published in late October. Hard copies and CD ROMs will be sent out to all local authorities and partners in the children's sector. The guidance will also be available on the C4EO website.

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