Working together to help improve children’s wellbeing

The men who pioneered the establishment of the new company have welcomed its launch. Council leader Paul Watson, who played an instrumental role in the decision to set up the new company, said: “We recognised early on that there was a need for a fundamental change in the way children’s services were delivered to ensure the best possible future for our children and young people. “There has been a tremendous amount of hard work to improve the service since July 2015, with some significant improvements, and the last three Ofsted monitoring visits have all reported steady progress. “We believe Together for Children is best placed to build on what has been achieved already and to drive forward the further improvements that are needed.” The company will be owned by and be accountable to the council, but it will have its own board of directors, who will set the direction of the company, supervise the management of the business and hold the management team to account. Nick Whitfield, the Government’s Commissioner for Children’s Services and the Department for Education (DfE), said: “This is a real opportunity to deliver innovative children’s services that can ensure further improvement and sustained delivery. “Sunderland is the first council in the country to voluntarily transfer the day-to-day running of children’s services out of council control in co-operation with the DfE, so Together for Children is unique and I look forward to seeing it continue to build on the steady progress that has been made so far. “The council deserves the credit for recognising that it needed to do something different to make a difference to children’s lives and for forging ahead with those plans to drive forward further improvements.” Edward Timpson, Minister for Vulnerable Children and Families, said: “All children and young people deserve the very best start in life, and children’s services must be able to deliver this. “Today marks an important step in the improvement journey of children’s services in this area and is the result of many months of hard work by Sunderland, Together for Children and the Commissioner Nick Whitfield. “I look forward to working closely with Together for Children as its work progresses.”