The Children’s Trust within Swindon has three elements.

1. Executive Management Group
2. Children and Young People’s Partnership Board (stakeholder/reference group)
3. Children’s Trust Performance Group

Executive Management Group

With the following functions:

• A key role in strategy and commissioning of children’s services across Swindon;
• A monitoring role for the Local Area Agreement and the Children and Young people’s Plan, and
• A monitoring role and oversight of the Local Safeguarding Children Board (LSCB).

Children and Young People’s Partnership Board

with the following functions:

• Policy advice to the Council in relation to Children’s services
• Monitoring of implementation of policy  and performance of Children’s services

The chair is independent and was appointed jointly by the Council and the Department for Education and Skills (DfES).

Children’s Trust Performance Group

The purpose of the group is to provide a focus for the joint commissioning, performance review of services and delivery of the Local Area Agreement for children aged 0 – 19 in Swindon.

The children’s trust arrangements are supported by a number of working groups, which are responsible for the delivery of parts of the Children & Young People’s Plan.  All planning and joint commissioning will be co-ordinated by the Children’s Trust Performance Group:

• Joint commissioning and co-ordination of a range of universal services and targeted services aimed at prevention and early intervention;
• Joint Commissioning of specialist services, for example disabled children, Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services, Substance Misuse Services, Youth Offending Services and Out of Borough Placements;
• Every Child Matters Task Group co-ordinating the implementation of the Change for Children Programme including the National Service Framework.

The children’s trust will also be informed by a number of stakeholder groups of children and young people (Youth Forum), parents and carers and the Children and Young People’s Strategic Partnership, which will continue to run partnership meetings three times a year.  The meetings of the Children and Young People’s Strategic Partnership will be open to all agencies with an interest in children’s services. The purpose of the partnership meetings will be to disseminate information, identify local issues and share good practice.

The Local Safeguarding Children Board is independent of the Children’s Trust Executive Management Group and will take reports on policy and practice issues to the Children’s Trust Executive Management Group or to Swindon Borough Council. The role of the Local Safeguarding Children Board is to:

• Co-ordinate local work to safeguard and promote the welfare of children;
• Ensure the effectiveness of local services

For further information about any of these groups, please contact: Sue Wald, Director Strategy & Commissioning swald’swindon.gov.uk or Lynn McDermott, Planning, Development & Commissioning manager lmcdermott@swindon.gov.uk

Children's Trust Performance Group - (90Kb PDF File)