local authorities

Commissioning services for children, young people and families : a study of the dynamics in six local authority areas (Research report no. DCSF-RR133)

Report of a research project in which 'audience insight' research with practitioners of children’s commissioning was carried out to establish an evidence base for the design, planning and delivery of a Commissioning Support Programme. Six local authority areas were used as case studies to gain a better understanding of the dynamics of commissioning, particularly those pertaining to leadership, partnership and locality working.

At your service : navigating the future market in health and social care

Paper examining the ways in which personal budgets will affect the social and health care market. It considers what prospective budget holders know and think about personal budgets, how they would spend it and what difficulties they foresee. It also suggests the likely challenges local authorities and other providers will face in delivering the personalisation agenda and makes recommendations on how to make the transition successfully.

Fostering services: national minimum standards - fostering services regulations

Document laying out the regulations and national minimum standards which apply to fostering services.

These regulations and standards form the basis of the new regulatory framework under the Care Standards Act 2000 for the conduct of fostering services. Includes a statement on the relationship with the UK National Standards for Foster Care produced in 1999.

Child Protection Inquiry into the circumstances surrounding the death of Kennedy McFarlane

Following the tragic death of three year old Kennedy McFarlane on the 17th of May 2000, Dumfries and Galloway Child Protection Committee (CPC) commissioned an immediate inquiry into the circumstances which led up to her fatal injury. The object of this inquiry is not to apportion blame but to learn lessons which will help to protect children from abuse and neglect in the future. Also known as The Hammond Report.

Children in care

For a variety of reasons, some children and young people can’t live with their parents. When parents aren’t able to look after a child, the local authority has a legal responsibility to do so. It will find somewhere for the young person to live and someone to look after them. When this happens, the child is said to be “in care” or being “looked after”.