Select Committee on Education and Skills Ninth Report

3  Overarching issues

Pacing change at policy level

18. The Minister for Children has repeatedly stated that Every Child Matters should be considered as a programme of transformational rather than gradual or incremental change. Accordingly, policy development has taken place at a formidable speed and has been accompanied by a slew of consultation documents and guidance. This pressure to move so quickly poses some inherent difficulties for a department which has publicly committed itself to implementing evidence-based policy and which is significantly reducing its workforce.

19. A clear example of this tension exists in relation to the development of child indexes or databases. The Government has made a policy commitment to the eventual implementation of computerised records containing basic details about every child in the country, as an aid to communication between staff in different agencies. To assist in the development of best practice, ten local 'Trailblazer' areas were invited to develop and test information sharing and assessment procedures (including computerised child indexes). We have some concerns about whether the policy decision to implement these indexes can truly be said to have followed from a thorough evaluation of Trailblazers' experiences. We have similar concerns about the 35 Pathfinder Children's Trusts, which were set up to trial the new local planning, commissioning and delivery arrangements. The Pathfinders themselves are still at a relatively early stage of development and analysis of their experience is consequently still in progress. Independent evaluation is not due to be completed until 2007, yet most local areas will be expected to have Children's Trust arrangements in place by 2006.[8]

20. We understand the drive toward rapid transformational change at policy level and think that this is entirely legitimate given the urgency of protecting children better and promoting their development and well-being. However, a Government committed (rightly) to pursuing evidence-based policy has a difficult balance to strike. It is crucial that significant changes are thoroughly trialled and evaluated before roll-out, especially in cases where doing things badly risks worsening outcomes for vulnerable children and young people.

Local determination and the role of central Government

21. Early on in the development of Every Child Matters, the Government was criticised for appearing to favour an overly prescriptive approach, giving local areas little control over the pace and nature of change. There has since been a perceptible policy shift toward local self-determination in response to this criticism and the current position is clearly expressed in the recent implementation plan, Every Child Matters: Change for Children:

"Since the publication of Every Child Matters, we have talked with our partners about how to manage change most effectively, recognising that local leadership, dynamism and ownership are vital if change is to succeed. And there is an important balance to strike between national expectations and local discretion."[9]

22. This move toward local determination has been largely welcomed in the evidence we have seen and heard. We concur that the best outcomes will be achieved if solutions are adapted to local circumstances. However, we also contend that in some areas, more central direction is necessary. For example, some feel that the vision of integrated front line services is currently vague and that there is a need for clear direction and guidance of what integrated front line services should look like in the future. These issues are discussed in more detail in the appropriate sections of the report.

23. The balance between local determination and action from the centre is likely to remain a critical issue as Every Child Matters unfolds. Too much central direction risks alienating those on the ground who know a great deal about local circumstances; too little, on the other hand, risks inconsistency and the appearance of gaps in services. In respect of certain aspects of the reforms, our evidence suggests that more central responsibility and direction may be needed than is currently the case.

Maintaining political momentum for a ten-year programme of change

24. The Minister for Children has repeatedly stated that Every Child Matters will be a long-term programme of reform, with full implementation likely to take at least 10 years. For implementation to be successful there needs to be a sustained commitment at the highest levels of Government throughout this period to drive through change.

25. Our visit to British Columbia gave us food for thought on this issue; there, a similarly ambitious programme of reform for children's services had been only partially successfully implemented. We were told that one of the determining factors had been 'ministerial churn', and that privately, it was felt that a lack of sustained political support over the longer term had been partly responsible for the achievement of only limited success.

26. It would be unnecessarily gloomy to predict that the same fate will befall England's reforms. The Minister for Children told us that she was deeply committed to Every Child Matters, and it was reassuring to hear from her that she considered the role 'the best job in Government.'[10] However, we are forced to confront the reality that 'ministerial churn' is likely to occur here, too. The effect of this churn on the ability to provide the vital central leadership for Every Child Matters is difficult to predict, but this is something that will need to be monitored over the coming period.

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8   The University of East Anglia in association with the National Children's Bureau, have been commissioned to carry out a formal evaluation of Pathfinder Children's Trusts. This will run until 2007. A Phase 1 interim report was published in October 2004 ( National Evaluation of Children's Trusts. Phase 1 interim report.) Back

9   ibid, p 6. Back

10   Q 479 Back

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Prepared 5 April 2005