Local authority action plans

Citation

(2001), "Local authority action plans", International Journal of Health Care Quality Assurance, Vol. 14 No. 5. https://doi.org/10.1108/ijhcqa.2001.06214eab.004

Local authority action plans

Local authority action plans

In May, 150 local authority Management Action Plans (MAPs) under the Quality Protects programme were approved by UK Health Minister John Hutton. Quality Protects was launched in Sept 1998 and is supported by the Children's Services Grant. The programme was extended in October 2000 from three years to five years, with funding increased from £375 million over three years to £885 million over five years. The aim is to focus on the most vulnerable and disadvantaged children in society – those looked after, those in the child protection system and other children in need. Of the grant, £60 million, over the period April 2001 to March 2004, is ringfenced for services for disabled children. All local authorities are required to submit MAPs, which demonstrate how local authorities are improving the management and delivery of children's services to provide better outcomes for vulnerable children, particularly children in care, to the Department of Health. Following the announcement, all the authorities will receive the payment of the Children's Services Grant 2001-2002, subject to normal grant procedures.

Mr Hutton said:

"Quality Protects is making a real difference to children's lives. Looked after children are experiencing fewer placement moves, more are finding new families through adoption and fewer are leaving care when they turn sixteen.

"It's encouraging to see that local authorities are now able to show how they are achieving better life chances for children. I'm particularly pleased to see the excellent progress that has been made in terms of listening to the views of the children, the support given to those leaving care and the services that children with disabilities receive."

He continued:

"Whilst all the MAPs have been assessed as acceptable, some councils have been better able than others to demonstrate real changes in children's lives. I will be looking to make sure that all councils are able to clearly demonstrate better outcomes next year."

The following MAPs were assessed as showing some of the best performance and most improved outcomes for children and young people:

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  Middlesbrough (Northern) – a MAP which shows a strong sense of being a "corporate" parent, effective links with local black and ethnic minority communities and a good track record in finding permanent adoptive parents for many looked after children.

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  Dudley (Central) – the MAP demonstrates strong working relationships across agencies along with important participation from children and other people who actually use the service.

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  Cornwall (Southern) – produced a MAP which indicates excellent progress on finding and supporting the best placements for children along with a clear sense of overall direction and joint agency working.

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  Kensington and Chelsea (London) – this was a good all round MAP which was robust in terms of services for children with disabilities and also for young people leaving care, where emphasis is placed on the need to continue to monitor outcomes for young people.