Children are blossoming in Herefordshire

Children are blossoming in Herefordshire and services continue to improve despite the current recession and budgetary constraints.  That was the message Herefordshire Council shared with national politicians and chief executives when children’s services attended the national children and adult services conference in Harrogate last week.

Putting Herefordshire on the map, officers and cabinet members showcased the county’s plans to make a positive difference to all Herefordshire’s children and young people.  Plans include moving towards integrated locality teams so that services are designed around the child and family; promoting strong partnerships with the police, GPs, private and voluntary organisations through the Children’s Trust and making sure the entire workforce is trained well and that safeguarding really is everyone’s business.

In addition, the county’s unique council and primary care trust partnership interested many visitors who were keen to hear about how such strong partnerships are streamlining and improving services. 

The conference is an established event that sees an audience of around 1200 high-level attendees coming together for three days to discuss and debate the latest issues affecting children and adult services.

The theme for this year was “rising to the challenge: brighter futures for all” which attracted major national keynote speakers such as Sir Roger Singleton, chair of the independent safeguarding authority, and national politicians including Ed Balls and Tim Loughton.  Christine Gilbert, chief inspector for Ofsted led plenary sessions with the focus on changes to school inspections, particularly around safeguarding and process.

People visiting the stand included Ofsted inspectors, chief executives and recruitment agencies, all interested to learn about Herefordshire’s approach to ensuring that every child really does matter.

Councillor Phillip Price, cabinet member for ICT, education and achievement, said: “Working in a rurally dispersed county is challenging as we are expected to deliver the same level and quality of services as larger urban councils, but with fewer resources.  Therefore we have to be creative and innovative in our thinking and the conference gave us an opportunity to share our aspirations and progress to date with others.”

“We want people to understand that although we are the third worst funded county in the country, we achieve some of the best results in the region. We care passionately about the services we provide for our children and young people, and are working hard to make sure the people employed in the children’s workforce are some of the best in the UK. 

“It’s good to be a child in Herefordshire and life is good for those who make the move here.  We clearly want to continue to attract strong, ambitious and talented people to join the new children’s services leadership team and help us make our county excellent and a place where services keep our children, safe, healthy, happy and well educated.”