Children's Services Transformation and Improvement

In Buckinghamshire, we want to provide the best service for children. In February 2023, we started a programme of directorate-wide service transformation.

This programme includes reviewing how we work in early help, social care and education to ensure that our children and young people get the right help when they need it.

This large-scale transformation will align our services to meet the needs of children and families in need of help in Buckinghamshire.

We want to make lasting, impactful changes to our services, using new ideas and working with others to make things better for children, young people, and their families.

Our transformation programme aims to:

• put children and young people at the centre of everything we do
• listen to children, young people, and families
• help professionals work together better
• make sure we use our money wisely
• improves staff training to meet the changing needs of children and young people
• make our services easy to access

We want to make sure that:

• support is based on what is best for our children and young people
• we make things easier for families to get support
• our services work better together to support children and young people
• we talk to children, young people, and families about their experiences, to make our services better
• the best person is working with the child and family
• we help our staff learn and grow
• our teams work closely with communities
• we help families get the help they need early on
• we try new things and respond to new challenges

Nationally Children's Services face many challenges. More children need help, and it costs more money to provide that help. In early 2023, the government made a plan to improve children's social care in England and also shared a plan to help children with special needs and disabilities.

Locally in Buckinghamshire, we know that we need to:

• work better together
• provide services that meet the needs of local communities
• help more families at an earlier stage, avoiding the need for social care services
• move towards a stronger early help network of support including voluntary and community services (VCS)
• focus our services on the most critical needs of our children and young people

1. Locality-based services: we will create teams within local communities to provide the right help at the right time for children, young people, and families.
2. Service Reviews: we will look at all our services to make sure they are working well for children and young people.
3. Placement sufficiency: we will make sure there is enough provision and safe places for children and young people to live and grow in Buckinghamshire with a new Foster Carer offer and by expanding the number of children's homes in Buckinghamshire.
4. SEND: we will improve our services for children and young people with special needs and disabilities and their families.
5. Workforce: we will try to attract the best social care workers to come and work in Buckinghamshire permanently.

We will work closely with our partners to provide the best services for children, young people, and their families. Our partners include:

• schools and education settings
• the police
• health services
• voluntary, community and faith sector groups

We will work with our partners to ensure that support provided for children, young people, and their families meets the needs of the child or young person at that time.

The Children's Transformation Board will make sure our program is successful. The Board is led by the Corporate Director for Children's Services. They meet every month to make sure our plans are progressing.

This Transformation Programme supports the Council's Corporate plan.

We want to hear from children, young people, and their families. We want to make sure our changes meet their needs. We will seek views through individual feedback from those who use our services, and by targeted engagement on the service development.