Customer Outcome 1: A Brighter Future for Our Children and Young People

The Children Act (2004), which is anchored by the five Every Child Matters outcomes, provides the essential context for this customer outcome. The Council is committed to enabling all children and young people to:

• Stay Safe
• Be healthy
• Enjoy and Achieve
• Make A Positive Contribution, and
• Enjoy (economic) wellbeing

There is also a locally determined sixth outcome:

• Gain easy access to services

In delivering a brighter future, we are operating as a member of the Solihull Partnership and, specifically, as a member and leader of the Children and Young People's Trust Board. We have therefore aligned our outcome to, and drawn our associated programme of improvements from, the six priorities of the local Children and Young People's Plan (CYPP) - "An Equal Chance". These Priorities are:

• Healthy Lifestyles
• Anti-bullying And Personal Safety
• Things To Do, Place To Go
• Raising Achievement For All
• An equal chance for particular vulnerable groups
• Integrated Services: Change for Children Programme

Key to this is our work on commissioning, on which we are leading for the Children & Young People's Trust. Under the Change for Children Programme the Trust is focusing on making sure that, through aligned and pooled budgets, it can commission the most effective services to deliver improved outcomes set out on the CYPP.

Within our Outcome local people have identified two priorities. These are addressed through the CYPP so that their delivery is owned at Trust and Council levels.

1. To Provide Improved Facilities for Children and Young People

This Priority particularly supports the CYPP priority 'Things To Do, Places To Go', and we want to:

• Make sure that all of our children and young people have the opportunity to enjoy and engage in various social and recreational activities.
• To make sure that services are available to all children and young people whatever their situation.

2. To ensure our children and young people grow up in a safe environment with opportunities to make a positive contribution

This Priority particularly supports the CYPP priority 'Anti-bullying and Personal Safety', and we want:

• Children and young people to be safe from any type of exploitation or maltreatment.
• Provide them with the opportunity to engage in decision-making and positive behaviours in order to develop their personal and social skills.

The overarching Commissioning Strategy that delivers this customer outcome is the Children and Young People's Plan. Additionally, there is a small number of supporting delivery plans: the Corporate and Directorate Diversity Scheme Action Plans; Divisional Strategy Maps; and the Youth Justice Plan.

Transformation

The Council Plan, in supporting the delivery of the Children and Young People's Plan, is building on a strong legacy of transformational activity. For example, 'Primary Regeneration' and 'Transforming Secondary Education' (the latter a Major Project in the previous Council Plan) were introduced with the aim of raising standards in education and delivering extended schools and services through the radical reform of learning and building environments, exploiting early access to the Academies and Building Schools for the Future (BSF) programmes, and the trailblazing North Solihull Regeneration programme.

Consequently, Forest Oak and Merstone schools are complete (June 2006) and are the first in the country to be built with BSF funds, whilst the Grace Academy opened in September 2006 and the first new primary school in North Solihull opens in January 2008.

Similarly, a previous Step Change Improvement Priority (SCIP) for Transforming Children's Services has delivered greater strength and depth to the preventative services provided by children's social work teams and creating a strong recruitment, retention and development strategy across the full spectrum of the children's social care workforce.

This means that more families receive early and timely support that enables them to stay out of crisis; a more stable and better qualified workforce; and full involvement in the integrated services agenda.

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