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Improving governance and resource management in children's trusts

On 29 October 2008, the Audit Commission published a report (Are we there yet? Improving governance and resource management in children's trusts) which examines the progress local councils and their partners are making in relation to the development of children's trusts.

The report suggests that there is little evidence to show that the children's trusts set up after the death of Victoria Climbie are making a substantial difference to outcomes.

The Audit Commission’s study finds that too much time and energy is being expended on structures and processes at the expense of improving the lives of children, young people and their families. Progress has been made in bringing professionals together but sometimes by navigating around the centrally-directed approach.

The study’s main findings reveal that:

• Children's trusts have little if any oversight of budgets and money for children's services;
• The relationship between trusts and other local partnerships is unclear;
• Children's trusts are unsure whether they are strategic planning bodies or concerned with the detail of service delivery;
• There is little evidence that mainstream money has been redirected by children's trusts.

The Audit Commission recommends that:

• Whitehall should remove barriers to local schemes of cooperation;
• Children and young people themselves should have more say in how children's services are designed;
• "Missing partners" should be brought in, notably GPs and agencies concerned with jobs and skills;
• There should be better integration of children's trusts with other local partnerships.

Are we there yet? Improving governance and resource management in children's trusts