Sustainable Services: Special Report

• Children's Services | Management | Service configuration | Education | Social Care | Youth Work

‘Eco anxiety’ among young people is rising prompting many to...

Leadership: Swearing in the workplace

• Management | Leadership

Leaders must set clear standards of behaviour for all staff...

Leadership: Trans, non-binary and gender-questioning employees

• Management | Leadership

All staff have the right to be themselves in the workplace....

Interview: Tim O’Neill

• Children's Services | Interview | Management | Leadership

Derren Hayes talks to the managing director of children’s...

Commissioning of therapies

• Commissioning | Management | Health | Mental health | Mental Health

Some children need therapeutic support that does not fit...

Embed a culture of safeguarding

• Leadership | Management | Safeguarding and child protection

Embedding a culture of safeguarding means that it becomes an...

Children's Care Commissioning Special Report

• Management | Commissioning | Social Care | Residential Children's Care | Foster Care

Commissioners of children's services are key to ensuring...

South East pilot gives care providers equal stake in developing placement contracts

• Social Care | Management | Commissioning | Fostering and adoption | Residential and specialist care | Residential Children's Care | Foster Care

Pilot project attempts to give care providers an equal say...

Leadership: Aiming high

• Management | Leadership

Only by having honest conversations about the values and...

Commissioning: Keeping co-production alive

• Management | Commissioning | Participation | Leaving Care | Residential Children's Care

Covid has made participation more difficult but has...

Rethinking job titles

• Management | Leadership

Job descriptions and titles play a huge role in what we...

Birmingham Children’s Trust: Three years in

• Children's Services | Management | Service configuration

Following a decade of poor performance, England’s largest...

Commissioning: Person-centred intelligence

• Management | Commissioning

In his third article, Mark Kerr assesses how a new piece of...

Commissioning: Assessing needs and outcomes

• Management | Commissioning

Commissioners need to improve the evidence they gather on...

Guide to Outcomes-based Commissioning

• Management | Commissioning

As local authorities come under growing pressure to manage...

Commissioning: Why we monitor outcomes

• Management | Commissioning | Social Care

Needs assessments and outcomes monitoring must be at the...

Stoke-on-Trent City Council: Local Spotlight

• Children's Services | Management | Service configuration | Ofsted | Families/Parenting

West Midlands area famous for its pottery industry is trying...

Post-16 framework provides pointers for national scheme

• Management | Commissioning | Social Care | Residential Children's Care | Leaving Care

Hertfordshire's care commissioners for looked-after children...

Tackling presenteeism

• Management | Leadership

A culture that encourages stressed staff to turn up for work...

Bradford City Council: Local Spotlight

• Children's Services | Management | Service configuration | Leadership

West Yorkshire council is making steady improvement after...

Commissioning: Implications of divergence

• Management | Commissioning | Social Care | Residential Children's Care

The fragmentation of council commissioning arrangements is...

Interview – Ndidi Okezie, chief executive, UK Youth

• Youth Work | Management | Leadership | Youth services | Interview

Derren Hayes speaks to the UK Youth chief executive.

East Riding of Yorkshire Council – Local Spotlight

• Children's Services | Management | Leadership | Service configuration

Derren Hayes assesses the impact an ‘inadequate’ inspection...

Workplace engagement

• Management | Leadership

It has never been more important for organisations to...

Commissioning: SEND provision in schools

• Education | Special Educational Needs | Management | Commissioning | Special Educational Needs & Disabilities

School leaders and council commissioners must ensure they...

Leadership - Leading through self-compassion

• Management | Leadership

Promoting self-compassion can help your staff and teams to...

How I Got Here: Sharon Lovell, National Youth Advocacy Service

• Careers | Management | Leadership | Youth Work | Youth services

Sharon Lovell, National executive director (Wales), National...

Successful partnership working

• Management | Leadership | Children's Services | Information sharing

Partnership working has far-reaching benefits for children’s...

Commissioning for wellbeing

• Mental health | Children's Services | Management | Commissioning | Mental Health

Commissioners should consider how best to meet the mental...

How I Got Here: Sharon Davies, chief executive, Young Enterprise

• Management | Leadership | Careers | Youth Work

I left home at an early age, and after several jobs...

Leadership: Inclusive recruitment

• Management | Leadership | Careers

Individuals from diverse backgrounds offer employers a...

Why we changed careers to work with children

• Careers | Early Years | Children's Services | Social Care | Fostering and adoption | Health | Health visiting | Management | Leadership

Many children’s and youth services are experiencing staffing...

Youth Work: Special Report

• Youth Work | Youth services | Participation | Management | Service configuration

A decade of deep funding cuts has seen a huge reduction in...

Joint targeted area inspections: Inspections clinic

• Children's Services | Information sharing | Management | Leadership | Service configuration | Ofsted | Social Care | Safeguarding and child protection | Child Sexual Abuse & Exploitation | Attachment & Neglect

Joint targeted area inspections began in 2016 with the aim...

Frontline staff in the media

• Management | Leadership

Media training for staff can be a game-changer in engaging...

Unregistered children’s homes: Legal Update

• Management | Service configuration | Safeguarding and child protection | Residential and specialist care | Legal

As the number of children being taken into care continues to...

Motivate staff in a time of austerity

• Leadership | Management

It can be tough to maintain staff morale as funding dwindles...

Children’s services inspection

• Children's Services | Information sharing | Families/Parenting | Early help | Children's rights | Management | Ofsted

Ofsted says the children’s services inspection regime is...

Shared Services: Special Report

• Children's Services | Early help | Information sharing | Management | Commissioning | Leadership | Service configuration | Social Care | Residential and specialist care | Fostering and adoption | Safeguarding and child protection

Fresh evidence suggests collaboration is helping local...

Joseph Howes - How I Got Here

• Children's Services | Management

The chief executive of charity Buttle UK tells us about his...

Demonstrate trustworthiness

• Management | Leadership

Public trust in charities is at its lowest point in a...

Make more time for direct work

• Management | Leadership

Effective social work relies on face-to-face contact with...

Communicating children's services

• Children's Services | Management | Service configuration

Communicating the day-to-day work of children's services can...

How to recruit and retain social workers

• Management | Leadership | Social Care

Recruitment and retention challenges in children's services...

Care and capability

• Education | Management | Social Care | Fostering and adoption | Residential and specialist care

Looked-after young people are some of the most vulnerable in...

Local Spotlight: Birmingham City Council

• Management | Service configuration | Fostering and adoption | Foster Care

How England's largest authority is using online and...

Commissioning for outcomes

• Management | Commissioning

All commissioning decisions should be judged by the impact...

Protecting yourself in the Digital Age

• Management

If you don't think children's and young people's charities...

What kind of family support can avert looming care system crisis?

• Management | Social Care | Preventing Care Proceedings

Record rise in number of care applications has prompted...

The policy context on Children's Mental Health

• Health | Mental health | Children's Services | Management | Mental Health

One in 10 five- to 16-year-olds have a diagnosable mental...

How I Got Here: Reverend Dez Johnston

• Careers | Management | Leadership

Alpha Scotland's director on his career milestones.

North East Lincolnshire Council: Local Spotlight

• Management | Service configuration

New leadership team has changed the culture and delivered...

Southampton City Council: Local Spotlight

• Management | Leadership | Service configuration

South coast council has charged new DCS with implementing...

Peterborough City Council: Local Spotlight

• Children's Services | Management | Leadership | Service configuration | Ofsted

Children’s services in prosperous commuter city are rated...

Newham Council: Local Spotlight

• Children's Services | Management

Diverse east London borough has been badly hit by Covid,...

The Bi-borough, west London: Local Spotlight

• Children's Services | Management

The "outstanding"-rated Bi-borough puts its success down to...

Hertfordshire County Council – Local Spotlight

• Children's Services | Management | Leadership | Service configuration | Special Educational Needs & Disabilities

Council with reputation for innovation turns its attention...

System links council’s education and social care data

• Education | Social Care | Children's Services | Information sharing | Management | Service configuration | Special Educational Needs & Disabilities

Visibility of children’s wider needs helps care and...

Wakefield Council: Local Spotlight

• Children's Services | Management | Leadership | Social Care

Council for former Yorkshire coal mining town has big plans...

Warwickshire County Council: Local Spotlight

• Children's Services | Information sharing | Early help | Management | Leadership | Service configuration

Midlands authority has invested in the children’s workforce...

Luton Borough Council

• Management | Social Care

Bedfordshire town has introduced new ways of working to help...

Local Spotlight: Doncaster

• Management | Service configuration

Transferring delivery of children's social care to an...

Ask the Experts: My boss is micro-managing me

• Safeguarding in education | Drugs and alcohol | Public Health | Management | Youth Work

Our expert panel offers advice on an overbearing boss,...

Ask the Experts: Worries about new employer

• Nurseries | Management | Fostering and adoption | Safeguarding and child protection

Our expert panel offers advice on sharing expertise, an...

Ask the Experts: Making a move to management

• Careers | Early Years | Early years education | Nurseries | Management | Leadership | Service configuration | Youth Work

Our expert panel offers advice on staff supervision, team...

Woodland Nursery

• Early Years | Early years education | Nurseries | Education | Management | Leadership | Service configuration | Outdoor Learning

London-based nursery inspired by the Forest School approach,...

Behind the Inspection Rating: Pre-school hones independence

• Early Years | Early years education | Management | Leadership | Service configuration | Ofsted

Clyst Valley Pre-School, Devon - Pre-school inspection -...

Good Idea: College prepares young people for armed forces

• Education | Children's Services | Management | Leadership | Service configuration

A specialist training college aimed at helping young people...

Ask the Experts: Accessing mental health funding

• Early Years | Health | Mental health | Sexual health | Children's Services | Children's rights | Early help | Information sharing | Management | Leadership | Service configuration | Youth Work

Our panel offers advice on mental health services funding,...

Behind the Inspection Rating: Shared leadership delivers success

• Early Years | Nurseries | Management | Leadership | Ofsted

Grasmere Nursery School, Luton; Nursery school inspection;...

Ask the Experts: Address suspicions over legal highs

• Early Years | Nurseries | Health | Drugs and alcohol | Children's Services | Information sharing | Management | Commissioning | Leadership | Service configuration | Social Care | Safeguarding and child protection | Youth Work | Participation | Youth clubs

Our panel offers advice on the dangers of legal highs, child...

Behind the Inspection Rating: Structure change drives progress

• Health | Mental health | Children's Services | Early help | Families/Parenting | Information sharing | Management | Service configuration | Ofsted | Social Care

Kingston upon Thames Council - children's services...

Ask the Experts: Get the best from governing bodies

• Early Years | Education | Children's Services | Management | Leadership | Youth Work

Our panel offers advice on school governing bodies, new...

Skills for the Job: Ensure a good work-life balance

• Careers | Health | Children's Services | Management | Leadership

As pressures in children's services continue to rise, there...

Ask the Experts: Leading a service in the spotlight

• Education | Health | Children's Services | Management | Youth Work

Our panel offers advice on DCS survival, nurturing interest...

Ask the Experts: Growing food, media stories of abuse, learning from mistakes and youth centre help for Eastern European children

• Early Years | Early years education | Nurseries | Play | Education | Children's Services | Children's rights | Early help | Information sharing | Management | Leadership | Social Care | Safeguarding and child protection | Youth Work

Our panel offers advice on growing vegetables, telling...

How training helps improve mental health support

• Courses and training | Health | Mental health | Children's Services | Management | Youth Work

Mental health project improves support for young people in...

Ask The Experts: Nursery medicine, CSE concerns, council help for academies and youth film nights

• Early Years | Education | Health | Children's Services | Management | Social Care | Safeguarding and child protection | Youth Work

Our panel offers advice on drugs in nursery settings,...

Ask the Experts: Coping with an extra workload

• Early Years | Education | Children's Services | Management | Social Care | Youth Work

Our panel offers advice on taking on extra duties,...

Behind the Inspection Rating: Centre offers five-star provision

• Early Years | Management | Service configuration | Ofsted | Inspections

Harpenden children's centres monitor children's progress to...

Ask the Expert: Risk assessments

• Management | Leadership | Safeguarding and child protection | Youth Work | Youth clubs | Youth services

Ask the Expert: Bad staff attitudes

• Early Years | Education | Health | Children's Services | Management | Leadership | Social Care | Youth Justice | Youth Work

Ask the Expert: Appreciating animals

• Early Years | Education | Health | Management | Leadership | Youth Work | Outdoor learning

Leadership: Three boroughs, one DCS and the potential for significant savings

• Management | Leadership

When the coalition government came to power in May 2010, it...

Leadership: Commissioning is key to improved services for young people

• Management | Leadership | Youth Work | Youth services

Youth services play a key role in young people's educational...

Leadership: How to ensure deaf children's needs are met in difficult financial times

• Health | Disabled children and young people | Management | Leadership

These are dark times for children's services, particularly...

Leadership: Corporate partnerships can motivate young people

• Management | Leadership | Youth Work

UK Youth has been around for 100 years. To have survived and...

Leadership: Let young people decide on the services that meet their needs

• Management | Leadership | Youth Work | Youth services

The services that support young people outside of school are...

Leadership: Society must make up for omissions in the Munro Review

• Management | Leadership | Social Care | Safeguarding and child protection

All of us working with vulnerable children know their...

Leadership: How all our children's centres survived the cuts in Hertfordshire

• Early Years | Management | Leadership

In February 2011, Hertfordshire County Council leader Robert...

Leadership: Time spent reflecting on how you work is time well spent

• Management | Leadership

I started my career in the field of education, training and...

Leadership: Creative changes will end the status quo of inefficient children's services

• Management | Leadership | Service configuration

Back in 2005, we underwent a restructure in Stockport like...

Leadership: Improved joint working will save time and money in Harrow

• Management | Leadership

As the budget cuts start to bite, the services we provide...

Leadership: Cuts compel us more than ever to act smart and intervene early

• Management | Leadership

It does not much matter how we got here. The issue facing us...

Profit Making and Risk in Independent Children’s Social Care Placement Providers

• Management | Commissioning | Social Care | Residential Children's Care | Foster Care

Local authorities in England spend more than £2bn a year...

Children's Homes Research

• Management | Commissioning | Social Care | Residential and specialist care | Residential Children's Care

The concerns of London local authorities in meeting...

Review of Sufficiency Strategies in London

• Management | Commissioning | Social Care | Residential Children's Care

Demand for children's services has been increasing...

Shared Services Briefing

• Children's Services | Information sharing | Management | Leadership | Service configuration

This briefing highlights many of the issues facing councils,...

A serene setting to address harmful sexual behaviour

• Children's Services | Management | Service configuration | Social Care | Residential and specialist care | Residential Children's Care

Glebe House is a residential home providing therapeutic care...

Survey of Schools' Work with Child and Adolescent Mental Health

• Education | Extra-curricular | Health | Children's Services | Information sharing | Management | Service configuration | Mental Health

A research team led by University College London and the...