Decision details

1.     To establish a project team to lead on the transformation required to deliver the children’s social care reforms, at a total cost of approximately £572,294.12 over the financial years 2025-26 and 2026-27.

1.     The children’s social reforms announced by the DfE in Nov/Dec 2024 build on the National Framework for Children’s Social Care and their implementation will require whole-system transformation.

2.     Further guidance is due to be released, however it is expected that reforms should start to be implemented from April 2025 and with the aim of MACPTs being in place by 2027.

3.     Additional funding for these reforms will be provided through a new Children’s Services Prevention Grant, with H&F due to receive £900,474 in 2025/26.

4.     This paper is to approve resource for 2026/27 on the assumption of continued funding.

5.     Given the scale of the reforms, a dedicated project team will need to be established to lead on the transformation work. This team will sit within Children and Young People’s Service and will include the following:

·       1 x PO5 (from April 2025)

·       1 x PO4 (from September 2025)

·       1 x 0.5FTE PO6 (from April 2025) – from Commissioning

·       1 x 0.5FTE PO6 (from April 2025) – IT project management

·       Uplift Grade F to Grade E – Head of Service with additional responsibility for transformation

The project team outlined is a proposal based on maximum costs; actual costs may vary and resource may be flexed differently depending on the project’s demands.

Option 1 – do nothing (not recommended)

Option 2 – establish a smaller team or singular role (not recommended)

Option 3 – establish the project team set out (recommended)