1. Birmingham Children’s Trust
The Journey so far…
National Commissioning Conference
2018

2. Birmingham’s Size Population: 1,124,569 Very Diverse
Birmingham is the largest single tier authority and has largest population of all the English Core Cities
Population: 1,124,569
(2016 Mid-Year Estimates )
Population of Core Cities
Birmingham 1,124,569
Leeds 761,481
Sheffield 560,085
Manchester 514,417
Liverpool 470,780
Bristol 437,492
Leicester ,812
Nottingham 310,837
Newcastle upon Tyne 286,821
A genuinely diverse population in terms of wealth, ethnicity and age. A young city.
50% non-white and 30% Muslim
30% FSM
Very Diverse

4. Children’s Services in Birmingham
13 Family Support teams
One Front-door for all early help & social work requests for support (CASS)
14 Assessment & short-term intervention teams (ASTI)
20 Safeguarding teams (long-term interventions)
20 Children in Care teams
5 Leaving Care (18+) teams
UASC, NRPF, homeless YP, Edge of Care teams
5 Disability teams
Youth Offending Service
Fostering and Adoption, Placements
CP chairs and IROs
QA, complaints, RAP, L&D, Commissioning, Performance/data

5. It’s good to have friends on your improvement journey…
“Social problems in the city were now so bad that it compared unfavourably with communist Cuba, and parts of Eastern Europe”
“They are a testament to failure of corporate governance on a grand scale – governance that has failed to grasp the nettle over many years and which has relegated our second city to fourth division for children’s services.”
“What is shocking is that this is the city council with responsibility for more children than any other, our second city, the largest unitary local authority in the country, the city of Joseph Chamberlain and once the powerhouse of the nation. How did it come to this?”
‘Birmingham is a national disgrace'

6. The Trust’s establshment
May 16 – Birmingham Children’s Trust announcement
November 16 – Andrew Christie appointed as Chair; Dave Hill appointed as Commissioner
August 17 – I took up post as Chief Executive
June-July 17 – Board members appointed
1 April 2018 – new DfE Direction, establishment of the Trust and retention of the Commissioner
Trust go live 1 April 2018

7. So what are we? A wholly owned, Teckal company
Commissioned by Birmingham City Council
Operationally independent
Accountable to an independent board of non-execs
£200m revenue budget
1900 staff TUPE transferred into Trust

8. What we’ve found so far…
Real improvements in practice over last 2 years
More still to do: ‘Requiring considerable improvement to get to Good’!
Energy, enthusiasm, commitment
Scepticism, disillusionment, anticipation
Support services: bent, broken
Partnerships: weak, dysfunctional system

9. My Values…
High Challenge, High Support

10. This is Us…?

11. What young people told us…

12. Our Values? ONE TEAM ACCOUNTABILITY AND RESPONSIBILITY
INNOVATION AND QUALITY
RELATIONSHIP-BASED
HIGH SUPPORT HIGH CHALLENGE

13. How we want to work: Practice
We want to be:
Restorative
Strength/asset-based
Relationships
Systems Thinking (and acting)
Reflective supervision
People say we are:
Respectful
Engaged
Clear, open, honest
Focused on children and on families
Working with others to help us

14. Our Emerging Priorities
Workforce
Practice and Quality
Placements and Commissioning
Troubled Young People
System/process improvement

15. Commissioning Strategy
Built on Practice Model: strengths-based; collaboration; systemic
Working with, and developing the market: mutual interest, common ground
Building new relationships; trust-building across sectors, working local as well as regional
Leading West Midlands regional residential commissioning project
Internal commissioning context
Co-creation; co-production

16. What success will look like…
Children, young people and families can describe the positive difference we are making
Families supported to care for their children
Engaged, positive and effective workforce
Super-efficient, high-impact support services: common purpose: all here to ‘make the bike/boat go faster’
Stronger commissioning of services: recycling resources
Stronger partnership system and greater Early Help impact
Ofsted…?

17. Wicked Issues Relationship with the Council
Changing the Birmingham multi-agency system
Workforce
Early Help and targeted prevention
Throwing off history
Making values real

18. Final Thoughts
Making sustainable change in practice and culture takes time and persistence and values – and it doesn’t happen overnight
Whole systems and whole organisations: partnership; commitment; honesty. Move away for the ‘problem child narrative’
Consistency, collaboration, shared accountability
Great opportunity to sustain and accelerate change and become a beacon of improvement, sustainability and best practice
The big existential question for the Trust…