A third of England's local authorities have now signed up to a pioneering scheme that allows children's services managers to take advantage of best practice in other councils.
Under the Service Advisor Scheme, run by the Improvement and Development Agency, councils contribute a minimum of two members of staff for 10 days a year for two years, to other local authorities that want to benefit from their expertise. In return, they can access experts from a pool managed by the agency.
Nigel Druce, the agency's strategic social services advisor, said the pool of experts would contain 150 service advisors by the end of April, and hoped this would rise to 200 by the end of the year.
The scheme was formally launched last autumn.
- Contact Gemma Chick, 020 7296 6436 for more information.
