Agenda item

Report from the Executive Director of Children and Young People’s Services.

Recommendations:

That Cabinet:

1.    Note the progress made since the last update on 17 November 2025.

2.    Note the Children’s Social Care Prevention Grant spend since the last update on 17 November 2025.

Consideration was given to the report which provided an update in respect of the progress on the Families First Partnership Programme and on the Children’s Social Care Prevention Grant spend.

In February 2025, the Government published the grant determination for the Children’s Social Care Prevention Grant for 2025-26 (RMBC allocation £2.083m). This new grant was specifically for direct investment in additional prevention activity for children and families implementing the Department for Education’s (DfE) Family Help and Child Protection reforms. The grant was intended to fund local authorities to deliver against the planned new legislative duties. The grant was in addition to the Children and Families Grant, which was now mainstreamed funding, initially for the Supporting Families programme and intended to enable continuation of existing prevention services. 

In March 2025, the Government published the Families First Partnership Programme Guide. The aim of the programme was to support safeguarding partners to implement Family Help and multi-agency child protection reforms and make greater use of Family Group Decision Making (FGDM). The programme guide described the vision and objectives and set out the practice change Government expected to see to improve the support provided to children and their families. The timeline for delivery of the transformation was ambitious, with significant progress anticipated within the first year.

As detailed in paragraph 2.1.1, a number of appointments had been made to the transformation team which was a positive reflection of the appetite in Rotherham for co-production and partnership working. Paragraph 2.2 detailed the regional work that had taken place which included engagement in regional Communities of Practice.

The Families First Programme Delivery Group, chaired by the Executive Director of Children and Young People’s Services, was ensuring progress against the delivery plan. This meeting was monthly and was well attended with key officers from across the partnership including South Yorkshire Police, Health, and Education, along with local authority service areas. The project team had reviewed other projects managed across the council and by partners to ensure the Families First Partnership Programme was in line with other change activity. 

Paragraph 2.4 of the report outlined the co-production work undertaken to review and refresh the Multi-Agency Threshold Guidance and Descriptors document. The original document was co-produced by the Rotherham Safeguarding Children Partnership and provided guidance for all practitioners working with children and families, who might be considering a referral to Children’s Social Care services via the Multi Agency Safeguarding Hub (MASH). A refresh of the Multi-Agency Threshold Guidance and Descriptors document was expected to be published in June 2026.

Officers within the Public Health team had undertaken a Needs Assessment on behalf of the programme and had reviewed data provided from Children and Young People Services (CYPS) and partners for the period July 2024 to June 2025. The data that had emerged from the report, broadly reaffirmed the position already understood by the CYPS directorate, which was encouraging. Domestic abuse was a main reason for concern when professionals and members of the public contacted MASH, as was parental mental ill health and a need for parenting support. There was also a clear correlation between the areas of Rotherham which were most deprived and those where requests for support came from.   

Work had started to review how Family Group Decision Making (FGDM) could be improved in Rotherham. FGDM was a voluntary, family-led process where relatives and other support networks created a plan to ensure a child's safety and wellbeing.  This way of working supported families to identify their own solutions, reducing their reliance on services. Paragraphs 2.6.2 and 2.6.3 provided details on the work already been done and the next steps in relation to FGDM.

The Executive Director of Children and Young People’s Services stated that this programme linked together with a suite of other programmes as part of the evolution of Children’s Social care.

Resolved:

That Cabinet:

1.    Note the progress made since the last update on 17 November 2025.

2.    Note the Children’s Social Care Prevention Grant spend since the last update on 17 November 2025.