Brighton and Hove
We want to remain leading-edge'
Di Smith, director of children's services at Brighton and Hove city council, manages and overseas an annual pooled budget of more than £102m.
Of that, £94m comes from the local authority for education services – which includes cash for the three children's centres, though not individual schools' budgets which are funded separately – £7.4m is from local community health services and £800,000 from the primary care trust.
The health and well-being of children and young people is a top priority for the children and young people's trust (CYPT), and over the past three years, more than 250 staff have been seconded to it from health services, including school nurses and health visitors. Two of three children's centres are led by professionals whose background is in health, rather than education or social care.
Managing budgets in this way has enabled Smith and colleagues to deliver services which meet the demands of the Every Child Matters agenda, which aims to achieve the best outcomes for all children and young people.
"Having a pooled budget has allowed all the partners within the CYPT to decide on priorities and make assessments of the needs in the area, and in line with the priorities weestablished in the children and young person's plan," she said. "We enjoy very robust relationships within the partnership in Brighton and Hove as a result."
The Commissioning Support Programme had enabled the CYPT in Brighton and Hove to review its current practice. The online tools and resources helped the partnership assess whether it was meeting all of its legal obligations and that its processes were fit for purpose.
"This was one of the earliest partnerships set up in the country, and we want to remain leading-edge," says Smith.