Children’s Early Help Isn’t a Service. It’s a System Behaviour. Here’s How to Commission for It

Children’s Early Help Isn’t a Service. It’s a System Behaviour

There is no term more widely used, and more widely misunderstood, in local authority children’s services than early help. Every strategy...

By Asha Patel

Commissioning Models Are Turning Expensive Resource into Sign Posters

Every local authority has one resource that dwarfs every other line in the budget: Your workforce. Not your providers.Not your commissioned...

By Asha Patel

Why “We’ve Already Got a Provider” Isn’t a Commissioning Strategy

Why “We’ve Already Got a Provider” Isn’t a Commissioning Strategy

There is a sentence I hear in almost every local authority I work with: “We’ve already got a provider for that.”

By Asha Patel

If you work in a local authority today, you don’t need another report to tell you demand is rising, complexity is increasing and scrutiny is sharper than ever. You already feel it.

How Children’s Services End Up Busy but Not Effective

If you work in a local authority today, you don’t need another report to tell you demand is rising, complexity is increasing and scrutiny...

By Innovating Minds

Commissioning a Service Isn’t Commissioning System Change for Children

You can meet every statutory duty, commission a “good” local provider, and still watch demand rise, crises spike, and scrutiny tighten. I...

By Innovating Minds

Measuring the Impact of Trauma-Informed Programmes: Tools and Strategies for Local Authorities

Trauma-Informed Programmes: Tools and Strategies for Local Authorities

How do you know if your trauma-informed approach is working across your local area? With the ongoing social care reforms, local...

By Laurence D.