CHILDREN'S TRUSTS: Report gives advice on trust expansion

The advice will be included in a report, due to be published in March, on strategic service partnerships to encourage closer working between local agencies.

Derek Collins, one of the civil servants working on the report, said strategic service partnerships were "precursors to children's trusts", despite them not being young people-specific. Collins said the findings would be informative for those involved in children's trusts.

The report will say that effective partnerships use pooled budgets, develop incrementally and harness the skills of voluntary and social enterprises.

"I'm surprised those sectors are not more involved with us," said Collins, who is the project executive for education, social care and health on the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister's Strategic Partnering Taskforce.