Commissioning Support Programme for Children's Trusts
The Commissioning Support Programme aims to transform the commissioning of services for children, young people and families by Children's Trust partners and thus improve outcomes for these groups of people.
While some progress has been made and examples of good practice do exist, it cannot yet be said that effective commissioning is embedded across all local areas or across the full range of services for children, young people and families. The Commissioning Support Programme has been set up to work with Children's Trusts to improve their commissioning capacity and capability in order to improve the lives of children, young people and their families.
The programme will run until April 2011 and will cover the commissioning of all services for children and young people, including both health and education. It will provide a substantial resource for practitioners, and it has been shaped by the sector throughout.
The DCSF conducted consultation among a sample of practitioners in local authorities and Primary Care Trusts across the country to find out what the sector wanted from the programme, and practitioners and key stakeholders have also contributed thoughts and feedback through their participation in an advisory group and working groups on the 14-19 agenda, children's heath, the Third Sector and working with the regions. This feedback has shaped and led initial planning for the programme and practitioners will continue to have an influential role as more detailed plans develop.
One of the key aims of the Commissioning Support Programme is to make existing skills and resources within the practitioner community more widely accessible. To do this, the programme will offer support to Children's Trusts and individual practitioners through a community of practice and the development of a comprehensive programme of bespoke support which is responsive to specific identified local needs.
The Commissioning Support Programme is jointly sponsored by the Department for Children, Schools and Families and the Department of Health and has been developed in partnership with Communities and Local Government.
If you would like to find out more, please email the Commissioning Support Programme. There is also a pilot website with information about the programme.
This page was last updated on 05 December 2008
