Josh MacAlister, The Minister for Children and Families, opened his speech at this years’ NCAS Conference with a powerful description of plans to “permanently reset children’s social care in England.” This bold statement set the stage for his discussion on one of the biggest reforms in the public sphere at present, the Families First Partnership Programme (FFPP). The Programme aims to rebalance the children’s social care system towards earlier intervention and prevention, enhance the role of family networks in decision making and care, and deliver swifter, focused multiagency action to keep children safe.  

MacAlister acknowledged the reforms’ complexity and challenges, including new goals for councils, shifts in practitioners’ focus, and enhanced multi-agency collaboration amid a rapidly changing landscape for the wider system. Yet he countered this with strong optimism, noting that pathfinders (early FFPP adopters) nationwide are already seeing positive change. Birmingham City Council and London Borough of Redbridge, in separate presentations at the conference, shared examples of the differences they are seeing from the FFPP, including rebalanced and equitable caseloads for practitioners, increased workforce stability, reduction in re-referral rates and a culture change around involving family networks as a standard part of practice. 

For the past year, we have been working alongside councils to support in the design and implementation of their Families First models and have seen what MacAlister highlights first hand. We have heard from families who need a more streamlined, relational system where they don’t have to retell their story, we have seen frontline practitioners and leaders dedicated to improving outcomes for children and families, and partners from across the system coming together to plan how they can work differently together. 

At 31ten, we can support in this time of “anxiety and excitement” that Redbridge leads highlighted in their presentation, to identify local vision and priorities for the reforms, and bring together partners to co-design local flexibility and flavour to the national FFPP guidance.  

From our work to date, we have seen that a key ingredient to overcome some of the challenges in the reforms is designing and planning in a way that emphases individuality and collaboration. To facilitate this, we have been working with councils to: 

• Identify system maturity and readiness for implementation of the FFPP, spotlighting areas of focus and opportunity 

• Develop a local vision, and design frameworks for measuring outcomes or tracking benefits 

• Complete demand analysis and a population needs assessment to shape a FFPP model that directly aligns with local priorities and needs, as opposed to a one-size fits all approach 

• Establish and enhance local FFPP governance and co-production models, bringing together partners from across the system to co-design plans 

• Co-design a detailed local FFPP model, and put in place an implementation plan to deliver within timescales 

If you are interested in hearing more about how we have supported councils with their Families First design and implementation, or would like a conversation about what we could bring to your local system, we’d love to hear from you – you can contact rebecca.smith@31tenconsulting.co.uk to arrange a time to talk.