Council's partners' lack of commitment

A LACK of practical commitment by some of Warrington Borough Council’s partners contributed to the problems which led to the authority being criticised by Ofsted over its care of vulnerable children.
This is the view of Coun Colin Froggatt, (pictured) chairman of the Children’s Trust Working Group set up to the role of the council and the Children and Young People’s Trust (CYPT).
A report by the working group has been presented to council scrutiny chiefs to help them understand the role of the CYPT, identify and engage with its partners and explore its funding streams with a view to identifying council and partner responsibility.
CYPT is an amalgamation of organisations whose aim is to improve the life chances of children in the borough. They include the Primary Care Trust, Police Authority, Fire Authority, Job Centre Plus, Probation Service and the council itself.
Coun Froggatt – a long-standing Labour member of the borough council – said although each of the partners acknowledged that CYPT was a shared responsibility, the main burden appeared to have been borne by the council’s children and young people’s department.
Coun Froggatt said: “”Neither the police nor the Primary Care Trust have made financial contribution, despite agreement in principle by the CYPT.
“This lack of practical commitment most certainly impacted on the operating of the CYPT as evidenced by the recent Ofsted report.
“One comment during interview was that the lead organisation (the council) should have pushed harder for the funding to be made by partner organisations, thus emphasising the importance of shared responsibility.
“Another comment by one of the partners was: ‘the reason financial contribution was not made was because we had no faith in the capability of the CYPT to use the money wisely.'”
Coun Froggatt said since the Ofsted report was published, strides had been made to better the situation, with the level of partner commitment showing improvement.
But he added: “Some organisations are still not fully financially committed.”
Elsewhere, the working group’s report indicates that historically, there has been no funding allocation from police headquarters to the CYPT. But now the police have agreed to provide £2,000 this year
The report states that the Primary Care Trust felt CYPT had suffered a general lack of purpose and had struggled to find its identity.
“The PCT felt that the CYPT was dysfunctional at the time of original funding agreements and so took the decision not to provide any funds.”
However, the PCT had since committed £65,000 for 2010-11 to fund the infrastructure and indirect support of the CYPT.
The working group report concludes that, as a result of Ofsted criticism of the leadership of CYPT on a number of issues, considerable work has been undertaken to improve its leadership and governance.
“The CYPT can play a valuable role in improving services for children, young people and their families by promoting early intervention to support those most vulnerable.
“The CYPT can ensure that the services available locally meet the needs of individuals and communities by responding quickly and effectively to changing circumstances.
“The future funding of the CYPT is reliant on all partners taking their responsibility serious and individually committing to and providing the necessary funds.”
CYPT has agreed that the following partners should contribute as follows: Warrington PCT: £65,000; Police Authority: £22,800; Fire Authority: £8,700; Job Centre Plus: £8,700, Probation Service: £8,700′, Warrington Borough Council: £81,000.
Scrutiny chiefs are seeking an update on the CYPT ion November.