Two regional partnerships aiming to maintain momentum on joint working in child health have been formed in the north of England, Children Now can reveal.

The partnerships bring together the North East and North West'sstrategic health authorities with government offices for those regions.They will attempt to protect the children's agenda from the effects ofcost cutting within the National Health Service and keep children highon the health agenda.

NHS North East has joined forces with the region's 12 local authoritydirectors of children's services, a representative of its primary caretrusts, and the Government Office for the North East.

Claire Appleby, children's adviser for the Government Office for theNorth East, said: "The NHS is struggling with financial issues and therehave been some in the system wanting to go faster than the NHS can gobecause of (these issues). So we're trying to tie together theDepartment of Health, Department for Education and Skills, and NHS ingeneral - to have conversations in a positive way rather than stokingthe friction in the system.

"It's a more mature approach to solving the issue. There are lots ofboards but this is different because it's about focusing on children'shealth and wellbeing across the system."

She added that the partnership, which holds its second meeting nextmonth, would initially tackle joint commissioning and funding issuessuch as sustaining children's centres and Sure Start schemes.

Meanwhile, NHS North West's partnership will see the strategic healthauthority link up with the Government Office for the North West, theCare Services Improvement Partnership and the Department of Health fromnext month.

Eustace De Sousa recently took up a joint appointment as assistantdirector of NHS North West's child health and maternity department andchildren's services adviser at the Government Office for the North West.His appointment should help the partnership's work.

He said the key priorities of the partnership are likely to includesafeguarding, public health inequalities, the development of children'strusts and commissioning.

De Sousa said his appointment and the partnership will help to supportchildren's trust arrangements. "If we come effectively together we canagree overall objectives and avoid duplication of resources," he said.