Publications

Effective, high quality early years provision makes a difference to young children, helping to break the cycle of disadvantage to give them a good start in life. It is a key element of early help and leads to better developmental outcomes and readiness to learn.

When problems first arise in families, early help is not only beneficial for children but essential for making the best use of resources.

Early help means providing support as soon as a problem emerges at any stage in a child's life. The aim is to ensure problems do not escalate to become more acute, and more costly, to the detriment of children and families.

‘Personalisation' is the term used for an approach to personal care and support which treats people as autonomous individuals and responds to their personal needs and wishes.

This guide is a follow-up to the guide by the Local Government Association (LGA) and the Association of Democratic Services Officers published in 2013, as health and wellbeing boards (HWBs) were being set up. Now that boards are fully operational, their emphasis is on being as effective as possible in their statutory and influencing roles.

The lead member for children's services (LMCS) has a statutory role in ensuring the council fulfils its duty for safeguarding children; in partnership with education, childcare and health services, the police and communities.

One of the lessons from the inquiries into abuse and ill treatment at Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust and Winterbourne View assessment and treatment centre is that service providers need to develop more equal partnerships with people who use services and carers. This sort of partnership is often called ‘co-production' .

This toolkit is part of the LGA's 'Healthwatch: On the Board' series, designed as a learning aid to support local Healthwatch representatives on their health and wellbeing board (HWB).

Health and wellbeing boards have faced a steep learning curve since assuming their full statutory role in April 2013. This guide was undertaken in response to requests from people working with health and wellbeing boards where there was a real desire for social media to be used effectively to help the boards shape policy, explain decisions and deliver objectives.

Showcasing the positive approach that councils across the country are taking to deliver housing growth.