Firstly, we'll have a new occupant at Number 10, with his own views onwhat the sector needs to provide for the UK's children. And, secondly,come July, we'll have a firm idea of the Government's spending plans forthe next four years when the Chancellor unveils the 2007 ComprehensiveSpending Review.
Everything else is up for grabs, so perhaps it's not surprising thatdifferent parts of the sector are jostling to get their funding bidsheard at the Treasury's top table.
Take children's centres. After a decade of sustained, and unprecedented,investment, many professionals are beginning to have serious doubts overthe Department for Education and Skills' funding formula for the newcentres, and are pinning their hopes on the spending review plugging thefast-emerging financial shortfalls (see Analysis, p11).
However, this funding conundrum will not, unfortunately, be solvedsimply by a cash injection from Government.
According to the recent National Audit Office report more than half ofchildren's centres can't identify the cost or cost-effectiveness of theservices they provide, which makes it difficult to see how a rock-solidcase for more government funding can be made.
What's more, not every local authority seems to have embraced the ideaof partnership as a way of financing some of the services on offer,either by working with partner agencies to deliver services at no actualcost to the centre itself, or by enabling local authorities to accesspreviously untapped pools of money from budgets such as health andeducation.
As a result, local authorities, led by directors of children's services,need to ensure that a robust business plan is in place for everychildren's centre in their area (and not just the ones they manage) withfunding streams that show unequivocally how these settings are to pay(or not) for the services they provide.
Only then, can the sector be assured that its case for more centralgovernment money for children's centres won't fall on deaf ears.
- Donna Murphy, editor, Children Now.
