Plans to boost child protection

Every area of England is to be covered by a Children's Trust Board (CTB), the government is to announce.

The boards, which aim to prevent abuse by co-ordinating child protection workers, will also be strengthened.

The initiative follows the failure of social workers in Haringey to prevent the abuse and death of Baby P.

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This measure came out of Laming and the legislative framework for CTBs was laid out in the 2004 Children Act. Some Trusts are already up and running. But this announcement comes around the same time as research which indicates that they have little effect on childrens' services including child protection. The children's trusts created by the government after the death of Victoria Climbie have made little difference to children's services, a report says.

...Audit Commission says they often lack clear direction and have made slow progress.  ...The Audit Commission study is the first independent assessment of the trusts since they were formally created by the Children Act 2004.

The report found progress was "less than was anticipated" for the impact of children's trusts on children's services, including child protection. It said there was "little evidence of better outcomes for children and young people" and too much time was being spent on "structures and process" at the expense of improving the lives of children.  But it reported that "on the ground, professionals are working together, often through informal arrangements outside the trust framework".