Education and Children's Services Cabinet Portfolio

Portfolio Holder: Councillor Anita Cranmer

Deputy Portfolio Holders: Councillor Joseph Baum

This Cabinet Portfolio spans the directorates:

• Children's Social Care
• Education
• Early Help

We work with families to make positive changes to their lives to prevent or reduce the need for statutory intervention. Early Help is a partnership approach delivered at different levels by many services.

It is about supporting families to do well, stay safe and resolve problems at the earliest possible opportunity, before they become more serious.

Our specialist statutory social care services provide support to children in need of help and protection.

Our services include:

• statutory assessment and care planning for children at risk of significant harm
• provision for looked after children and those leaving care
• youth offending
• fostering
• adoption
• delivery of in-house residential provision

We ensure that all children and young people have access to a good education.

We adopt an all age approach starting from supporting the access to high quality early years provision through to the delivery of a diverse curriculum offer for young people, post 16.

This includes supporting strong attainment in all schools and the delivery of lifelong learning opportunities through Adult Learning.

We deliver the statutory functions in relation to Education, Health and Care (EHC) needs assessments. This is to ensure that all vulnerable children and young people aged 0 to 25 receive the education support and provision required for them to achieve their full potential and prepare them for adulthood.

We are responsible for delivering the council’s statutory duty to provide sufficient early years and pupil places as well as managing the fair allocation.