Decision details
Families First for Children Pathfinder in Wirral and The Early Help Alliance
Decision Maker: Director of Children, Families and Education
Decision status: Recommendations Approved
Is Key decision?: No
Is subject to call in?: No
Decision:
To agree to a variation to the current Early
Help Alliance contract to enable them to deliver the following
projects as part of Families First for Children Pathfinder
programme:
• Befriending – £100k
• Parent Forums – 25k
• Advocacy and co-production – £280k and 50k
• Consultancy/Supporting Schools - £10k
The variation is for total value of £465,000 for the period
from 1st August 2024 – 31st March 2025.
Reasons for the decision:
• In April 2022 Wirral Council
commissioned the first children’s services alliance for a
period of 5 years (with 2 x 1-year extension options), with the aim
of:
1. Delivering of a variety of supportive experiences which Wirral
families told us would help them to thrive.
2. Coordination of backbone functions to grow and sustain the model
for the future.
3. Helping to provide online tools and resources for
families.
4. Supporting a growing network of wider organisations and partners
under the Family Toolbox ‘memberships mark’.
• In April 2024 the Department for Education announced that
Wirral had been selected as one of only seven local authorities in
the country to be a Families First for Children Pathfinder.
• The Pathfinder is part of the government’s programme
of reform for children’s services as part of the Stable
Homes, Built on Love strategy, which seeks to help families to
overcome challenges so they can stay together and thrive.
• Wirral have an opportunity to develop, test and learn new
ways of working and build upon our current good practice to inform
and help shape how family help, children’s social care and
support for family networks will be delivered to children, young
people and families across the country.
• One of the four key elements of the Pathfinder programme is
to establish local multi-disciplinary family help services,
bringing together early help and child in need provision, to ensure
families with multiple needs receive earlier, seamless support so
that they can overcome challenges, stay together and thrive.
• The work of the Family Toolbox Alliance, and some of its
member organisations (currently 97) is aligned to the objectives of
the Families First for Children Pathfinder programme.
• This additional funding provided to the Alliance will enable
them to expand their current provision whilst underpinning Wirral
Council’s objective for the Pathfinder programme through
‘testing and learning’ new services for families.
• As the Early Help Family Toolbox contract is already in
place with the council, the additional funds from the Pathfinder
Programme mean that the new areas of work can be mobilised quickly
through direct delivery by the Alliance organisations, and through
the Family Toolbox Membership Grant programme to bring the
expertise and specialisms of a number of other Wirral voluntary
organisations.
• This contract variation meets Contract Procedure Rules and
has been agreed by Wirral Council procurement team.
Alternative options considered:
Due to the timescales for delivery of the
Pathfinder programme, and the scope of these projects falling
within the Early Help Alliance current contract, no other options
have been considered.
Publication date: 05/07/2024
Date of decision: 05/07/2024