Local authority administration
Section 17: Children and Young People’s Plans
95.Section 17 imposes a new duty on children’s services authorities to plan for the provision of services for children. It is linked to the duty to co-operate which is the subject of section 10. As a consequence of the new duty, a number of other planning obligations falling on local authorities are being dispensed with. These are the Education Development Plan, the Early Years Development and Childcare Plan, the School Organisation Plan, the Behaviour Support Plan, the Class Sizes Plan, the Children’s Services Plan and the Local Authority Adoption Services Plan.
96.Subsection (1) provides for regulations to require children’s services authorities to prepare and publish a Children and Young People’s Plan (CYPP) which will set out their strategy for services for children and relevant young people.
97.Subsection (2) states that regulations may make provision for the content, timescale, publication and review of the plan and what consultation should be undertaken in its preparation. We intend the CYPP to be based on the five outcomes for children and to contain a statement of local vision for children and young people, key outcomes, a strategic analysis, actions (with timescales), references to joint planning with key partners, performance management and review of children’s services, and to outline the consultation undertaken in its preparation. The intention is that regulations will provide for the CYPP to relate to successive periods of three years. The authority will have to publish the CYPP and to review it annually.
98.Subsection (3) provides for the content of the plan to include arrangements made under section 10 (duty to co-operate) and the strategy of key partners with whom there is co-operation for children’s services. Therefore, the CYPP will be consistent with plans for services for children and young people prepared by other organisations in respect of the local authority’s area, e.g. concerning children’s health services, youth justice and services provided by the voluntary and community sector.
99.Relevant young people are defined according to section 10(9).
Section 18: Director of children’s services
100.The local authorities that are children’s services authorities for the purposes of this Act are currently required to appoint a chief education officer and a director of social services. Those requirements are removed when authorities exercise their power under this section to appoint a director of children's services and a director of adult social services. The Act makes it possible for local authorities to make these appointments and gives the Secretary of State a power to require them to do so by order at such time as he thinks appropriate.
101.The purposes for which the director of children’s services is appointed are local authority education functions (other than functions specified in relation to adults); social services functions for children; functions in relation to young persons leaving care; functions conferred on the authority under sections 10- 12 and 17 of this Act; any functions delegated to the authority by an NHS body under section 31 of the Health Act 1999, so far as relating to children; and any other function prescribed by the Secretary of State by regulations. The authority may include in the remit of the director of children’s services such additional functions as they consider appropriate (subsection (5)). Authorities are free, for example, to include adult education functions.
102.Directors of children’s services will also be expected to steer local co-operation arrangements in relation to children’s services. Further detail on the role and responsibilities of the director will be set out in guidance issued by the Secretary of State under subsection (7).
103.Subsection (8) allows two or more authorities to appoint jointly a director of children’s services. This would, for example allow adjoining authorities to reinforce arrangements for joint services.
104.Subsection (9) gives effect to Schedule 2.
Schedule 2: Director of children’s services: consequential amendments
105.The amendments in this Schedule remove the duties for authorities in England to appoint a director of social services and a chief education officer (paragraphs 2(2)(a) and 4(2) respectively). Their functions are assigned instead to the director of children’s services appointed under section 18 and the director of adult social services appointed under section 6 of the Local Authority Social Services Act 1970, as amended. Other amendments in the Schedule reflect these changes.
106.Paragraph 1: Section 96 of the Children and Young Persons Act 1933 (c.12) is amended to add a reference to the director of children’s services. This will allow a local authority or committee by resolution to empower the director of children's services, chief education officer (‘CEO’) in Wales or clerk to exercise powers of the authority or committee in any case which appears to him to be urgent.
107.Paragraph 2: Section 6 of the Local Authority Social Services Act 1970 (c.42) is amended so that a local authority in England to which the Act applies is required to appoint a director of adult social services. This is because responsibility for children’s social services comes under the Director of Children’s Services so an overall Director of social services is no longer appropriate. Schedule 1 to the 1970 Act (list of social service functions of local authorities) is amended so that the appointment of the director of adult social services is a social services function on which guidance may be issued under section 7 of the Act.
108.Paragraph 3: Section 2 of the Local Government and Housing Act 1989 (c.42) (politically restricted posts) is amended in relation to England so the posts of director of children's services and director of adult social services are ‘statutory chief officer’ posts and therefore ‘politically restricted’. Section 1 of that Act describes the restrictions on such persons, the main one being that such a person is disqualified from being a member of the local authority.
109.Paragraph 4: Section 532 of the Education Act 1996 (c.56) (appointment of chief education officer) is amended to require only local education authorities in Wales to appoint a CEO.
110.Section 566 (evidence: documents) of the Education Act 1996 is amended so that a document issued by a local education authority signed by the director of children’s services (in the case of an authority in England) is treated as the document it purports to be and signed by the person by whom it purports to be signed, unless the contrary is proved. This provision still applies to the CEO of an authority in Wales.
111.Paragraph 5: Section 8 of the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 (c.37) (parenting orders) is amended so that someone nominated by the director of children’s services is a ‘responsible officer’ for the purposes of that section and section 9. Responsible officers have the power to make applications to the court in respect of parenting orders and can direct a person subject to such an order to attend counselling or guidance sessions.
112.Section 39 of the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 (youth offending teams) is amended to include at least one person with experience of social work, and at least one person with experience in education to be nominated by the director of children’s services on the list of persons one of who must be on every youth offending team.
113.Paragraph 6: Section 4C of the Protection of Children Act 1999 (c.14) is amended to substitute ‘director of children’s services of a local authority in England or a director of social services of a local authority in Wales’ for ‘director of social services of a local authority’. These post-holders are among the people who are able to apply to the High Court for an order restoring an individual’s name to the list of those considered unsuitable to work with children, where it is necessary in order to protect children.
114.Paragraph 7: Section 36 of the Criminal Justice and Court Services Act 2000 (c.43) is amended so that the director of children's services and director of adult social services are added as a ‘regulated position’ for the purposes of that Act. As a consequence, under Part 2 of that Act (protection of children) a person disqualified from working with children commits an offence is he applies for the position of director of children’s services.
115.Paragraph 8: Section 322 of the Criminal Justice Act 2003 (c.44) (individual support orders) is amended to include, in the new section 1AA (10) of the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 being inserted by that section, a reference to a person nominated by the director of children’s services, so that person is a ‘responsible officer’ for the purposes of that section and section 1AB (which relate to individual support orders).
Section 19: Lead member for children’s services
116.Subsection (1)(a) requires a local authority in England to designate one of their members as lead member for children’s services in respect of the functions of the authority set out in section 18(1). Subsection (1)(b) allows individual authorities to allocate to the lead member for children’s services any additional functions they consider appropriate.
117.Further detail on which member should be designated as the lead member (depending on individual authorities’ constitutional arrangements), and the role and responsibilities of the lead member will be set out in guidance issued by the Secretary of State under subsection (2).
Sections 20-24: Inspections of children's services
118.The purpose of these sections is to provide for a unified approach to the inspection of children's services in a local authority area.
Section 20: Joint area reviews
119.The purpose of this section is to make provision for joint area reviews of children's services (as defined in section 23(3)) to be carried out in the area of each children’s services authority or the areas of particular children’s services authorities.
120.Subsection (1) provides that the Secretary of State can request the inspectorates and commissions to draw up a timetable for joint area reviews for his approval. Subsection (1)(a)(i) allows the request to include every children’s services authority, depending which authority is being reviewed; subsection (1)(a)(ii) allows the request to cover some but not all of the children’s services authorities. Subsection (1)(b) enables the Secretary of State to request two or more of the inspectorates to conduct a review of particular children's services in an area he specifies. Where the Secretary of State makes such a request the inspectorates in question are obliged to conduct the review.
121.Subsection (2) enables two or more of the inspectorates to conduct a review of a particular local authority's area on their own initiative.
122.Subsection (3) provides that the purpose of the review is to evaluate the extent to which, taken together, the children's services being reviewed improve the well-being of children and relevant young persons. The review will, in particular, consider the quality of children's services and how the bodies which provide those services work together.
123.Subsections (5) and (6) provides that any review must be conducted in accordance with arrangements made by Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Schools ('Chief Inspector') and before making those arrangements he must consult the inspectorates as he considers appropriate.
124.Subsection (7) provides that the Chief Inspector's annual report under section 2 (7)(a) of the School Inspections Act 1996 must include an account of reviews carried out under this section.
125.Subsection (8) enables the Secretary of State to make regulations in relation to reviews under this section. This may include making provision to require the persons or bodies inspected to produce information for the purposes of a review, or to authorise entry to premises for those conducting reviews and provision creating criminal offences to underpin these obligations. By virtue of subsections (9) and (10) provision can be made by applying existing provisions giving the inspectorates powers to conduct assessments for the purpose of reviews under section 20. 'Assessment' for the purposes of the section is defined in section 23(2) (see below). Regulations may also impose requirements as to the making of a report on each review under this section and for specified persons to make written statements of the action they propose to take in light of the report and the period within which such action must or may be taken.
Section 21: Framework
126.This section makes provision for a Framework for Inspection of Children's Services ('the Framework').
127.Subsection (1) imposes a duty on the Chief Inspector of Schools to devise the Framework. The purpose of the Framework is to set out the principles which are to be applied by any of the inspectorates when carrying out a relevant assessment (see section 23 (2)) of children's services, including a joint area review under section 20. The purpose of the Framework is to ensure that those assessments properly evaluate and report on the extent to which children's services improve the well-being of children and relevant young persons. The principles may include how the results of an assessment are to be organised and reported by each of the inspectorates, so that their judgement 'ratings' may be aggregated.
128.Subsection (6) provides that the Chief Inspector must consult the inspectorates when devising the Framework. Subsection (7) provides that before publishing the Framework he must consult any other persons or bodies as he thinks fit and obtain the consent of the Secretary of State. The Framework may be revised (subsection (8)).
Section 22: Co-operation and delegation
129.Subsection (1) provides that any person or body with functions under any enactment of carrying out assessments of children's services must, for the purposes of those assessments, co-operate with other persons or bodies with such functions.
130.Subsection (2) enables a person or body with functions of carrying out assessments of children's services to delegate their functions to any other person or body with such functions.
Section 23: Sections 20 to 22: interpretation
131.This section applies for the purposes of sections 20 to 22.
Section 24: Performance rating of social services
132.This section amends section 79(2) of the Health and Social Care (Community Health and Standards) Act 2003 (c.43) (annual reviews). Section 79(2) of that Act requires the Commission for Social Care Inspection (CSCI) to review each local authority in England's social services provision annually and award the authority a performance rating. This amendment means that CSCI will award one performance rating in respect of services to children and care leavers (subsection (2)(a)) and another in respect of all other social services (subsection (2)(b)).
