Analysis of Children and Young People's Plans 2007

Mary Atkinson

19 May 2008

As from April 2006 all local authorities were required to prepare and publish a Children and Young People’s Plan (CYPP) that will be reviewed annually. In 2006, EMIE collected all the CYPPs and made them available on the EMIE website and NFER published an analysis of a sample of the plans.

• This report presents the findings of an analysis of the new or updated CYPPs published in 2007. Plans and reviews from the same 50 authorities that were used for the analysis in 2006 have been analysed, allowing comparisons to be made between the two years.
• Analysis was conducted with a particular focus on three key themes: commissioning, safeguarding and looked after children (LAC). The areas covered within the commissioning section include: the commissioning strategy, joint commissioning teams, commissioning processes, services and key groups being prioritised, actions for taking the commissioning strategy forward, resource allocation and budgets, as well as the challenges and benefits associated with commissioning. The safeguarding and LAC sections cover priorities, actions and targets, with the safeguarding section also covering key groups and lead agencies. The report also revisits the format and presentation of the plans.
• In addition to the analysis of the plans, some form of commentary from local authorities is also provided within each section. The commissioning section incorporates comments and issues raised by local authorities attending a series of Planning for Excellence (PFE) workshops, sponsored by IDeA and NFER. At the beginning of each of the safeguarding and LAC sections local authority commentary is provided by way of a summary of the findings written by Ian McGregor, IDEA Associate and member of the CYP regional improvement team.

The second phase of this study details findings from six local authority case studies, focussing on examining the planning processes involved in the development of CYPPs in more depth.

See the project summary for an overview of the project.