What is Nottingham Children's Partnership?

This partnership brings together a variety of organisations, which work together in order to improve children's lives and to deliver the best possible services for families.

Nottingham Children's Partnership acts as the Children's Trust for Nottingham, builds on previous joint-working and represents a new era of partnership working in the whole system of Children's Services.

What is a Children's Trust?

Children's Trusts are local partnerships which bring together the organisations responsible for services for children, young people and families in a shared commitment to improving children's lives.

The Children's Plan set out the Government's aim to make sure that all children - wherever they live, whatever their background and whatever their age - have their needs met so that they are healthy; stay safe; enjoy life and achieve well at school and beyond; make a positive contribution to society; and can achieve economic wellbeing.

The role of each Children's Trust is to turn this vision into reality. In particular, Children's Trusts play a central role in bringing together all the services needed to ensure all children are safeguarded.

The essential features of a Children's Trust are:

• A child-centred, outcome-led vision for all children and young people, clearly informed by their views and those of their families;
• Inter-agency governance, with robust arrangements for inter-agency co-operation;
• Integrated strategy: joint planning and commissioning, pooled budgets;
• Integrated processes: effective joint working sustained by a shared language and shared processes; and
• Integrated front-line delivery organised around the child, young person or family rather than professional boundaries or existing agencies.

What will Nottingham Children's Partnership do?

Nottingham Children's Partnership, acting as a Children's Trust, will:

• Increase the focus on improving children's lives, informed by the views of young people and their families;
• Ensure that professionals work together across organisational boundaries to meet the needs of young people;
• Enable better assessments, information sharing and improve referrals so that children can get the services they need quickly;
• Establish joint-commissioning of services and pooling of budgets and resources to drive multi-agency working; and
• Set a clear framework for strategic planning, resource allocation and accountabilities (captured through the Children and Young People's Plan).

This will be across the whole system of Children's Services, covering the work of partner agencies at every level from the development of strategy to front line delivery of services.

Which agencies are members of Nottingham Children's Partnership?

The following organisations are part of Nottingham Children's Partnership:

• Nottingham City Council
• NHS Nottingham City
• Nottinghamshire Police
• Nottingham City Safeguarding Children's Board
• Probation Service
• The Youth Offending Team
• Learning and Skills Council
• Connexions Nottinghamshire
• Job Centre Plus
• Representation from Nottingham City Schools
• Representation from the Further Education Sector
• Representation from the Voluntary Sector

Representation from children, young people and families will also feed into Nottingham Children's Partnership.

Who regulates Nottingham Children's Partnership?

The Partnership is governed by Nottingham Children's Partnership Board, which is accountable to One Nottingham. One Nottingham is the strategic partnership for the whole of Nottingham and is accountable to the Government for the delivery of key targets for the city.

Priorities and next steps for Nottingham Children's Partnership Board

The priorities and next steps for Nottingham Children's Partnership Board include:

• ensure that the Children and Young People's Plan (CYPP) is implemented;
• agree a cross-agency approach to engaging children, young people and families in shaping services;
• develop a 'Children's Charter';
• develop a framework of sub-partnerships under Nottingham Children's Partnership;
• enable integrated planning, processes and front line delivery of services to take place effectively;
• establish a One Children's Workforce development strategy;
• enable cost effective aligning of resources across agencies; and
• be accountable for performance targets

All local authorities are required to have statutory arrangements for a Children's Trust in place by 2010 and Nottingham Children's Partnership is on track to have all its legal arrangements in place by then.

Further information

For more information on Children's Trusts visit: www.everychildmatters.gov.uk

For more information about Nottingham Children's Partnership:

• Write to: Candida Brudenell, Director of Children's Trust Transition Programme, Nottingham City Council, The Sandfield Centre, Sandfield Road, Lenton, Nottingham NG7 1QH
• Tel: 0115 915 0800