Analysis: Children act - The shake-up begins in earnest

Parliament's approval of the children bill last week marked a significant leap forward in the Government's plans for improving services for children and young people. The resulting law - the Children Act 2004 - allows many of the ideas contained in the Every Child Matters green paper that were previously unachievable because of legal restrictions to finally become a reality.

Foremost among these ideas are children's trusts: the local bodies responsible for directing and commissioning the work of all services for children and young people. The Government envisages children's trusts bringing together almost every service that works with children and young people, from social services to Connexions to youth offending teams. Pilot children's trusts are already operating in 35 English local authorities, but the Act gives them legal recognition.