Councils look to unite to deliver children's social care, survey finds

The Department for Education (DfE) poll, that gathered the views of children's services directors and other senior managers in children's services, found 21 per cent of the 88 councils that took part already operated social care services jointly with other authorities.

A further seven per cent were in the process of developing joint operations and 25 per cent said it was on their agenda for the future.

Local authorities in the North of England were more likely to have joint social care operations than those in the South. In the North, only 36 per cent of councils lacked joint operations compared with 60 per cent of authorities in London and the South.

The survey did not specify in what areas joint operations were being provided, however they were in addition to regional adoption agencies.

Placements North West, a collaboration between 22 authorities in the region to assist them when making out-of-area placements for looked-after children, is one example of joint arrangements.

The DfE's Children's Services Omnibus survey also found that financial pressures were seen as the greatest threat to local service delivery over the next three years.

Nine out of 10 children's services leaders said financial pressures were a risk. The next biggest threat to service delivery was the recruitment of high-quality staff, cited by 57 per cent of councils.

One unitary authority respondent told the survey: "Ensure enough budget to enable us to provide good statutory services and targeted support. Further reductions in targeted support and early help results in greater pressure at the front door and escalation of risk."

On the problem of recruitment, some councils said action was needed to draw social workers away from agency work.

One council suggested the government uses the forthcoming accreditation scheme for children's social workers to make agency work less attractive.

The survey also asked directors to name the biggest barriers to new models of service delivery. Nearly half cited the risk new models pose to current service delivery and outcomes.

Another 37 per cent said the local political direction was a barrier. Set up costs and questions about the longer-term value for money of new models was cited by around a third of councils.

The poll also uncovered a gap in support for special guardians compared with adopters. While 93 per cent of councils provided support groups for adopters, just 55 per cent did the same for special guardians.