Slough Local Authority Finance Review

Descriptions

The Department is responsible for supporting improvement in local authorities, through government intervention in response to failure or weakness in the provision of children's social care services. This is done in part through drawing down external expertise, from various sectors, to support local authorities in these circumstances. Where Ofsted finds systemic and/or persistent failure by an authority to provide adequate children's services, the Department initiates steps to secure improvement, with a presumption that this will best be achieved by removing the service from council control for a period of time. Slough Children First (SCF) is a local authority 'not-for-profit' company providing children's social care and some early help services under contract from Slough Borough Council (SBC) required as a consequence of a DfE Direction. SCF has been asked to design a business case which will deliver unit cost savings over the medium term through an invest to save approach, and to deliver credible and sustainable service improvements - a Journey to Good. Primarily, the business case is focused on the provision of appropriate early help and intervention which will therefore reduce the need for intensive and specialist services by supporting the child and the family earlier and providing appropriate support. However, this business case has to be viewed in the context of a wider suite of business cases to ensure the whole system is properly aligned, resourced and functioning, including across partners. Independent advice is therefore required to assess the business case to ensure it will achieve the desired outcomes of savings and service improvement, and is feasible within the current budget envelope. The closing date for this procurement opportunity is the 29th of June at 12 noon. To apply, register on Jaggaer at https://education.app.jaggaer.com/web/login.html and navigate to ITT_1459