Praise for family information service
A Government report has named a Warwickshire service as the best in the region for providing information to families.
Government Office for the West Midlands (GOWM) recently commissioned research into how well Family Information Services (FIS) in the West Midlands deliver information, advice and assistance to parents of children up to the age of 20.
The report measured how the 14 authorities in the region meet information requirements of the Childcare Act 2006 with particular focus on links with children’s services and health as well as outreach with families in local communities.
Warwickshire County Council, along with Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council, were the only local authorities in the study to receive full marks in all areas of the report - demonstrating how well these authorities are supporting families in these areas.
The Childcare Act placed a statutory requirement upon all top tier local authorities in England to deliver structured information, advice and assistance to parents by 2008.
These changes in the law have led to a much clearer set of responsibilities on local authorities to provide high quality information and one-to-one support for families, enabling them to access good quality childcare and other services.
Family Information Services are required to provide comprehensive, accurate and up to date information that is easy to access. Parents should have a choice of locations to access this information and it should come in different media and formats. Local authorities are asked to engage with families who may find it difficult to take up services.
The evaluation report found that Solihull and Warwickshire demonstrate clear ownership of the information duty at a high strategic level, stating that ‘there is good evidence of strategies to deliver the duty with robust monitoring and reporting protocols’.
Both authorities were identified as having good engagement with health services and the report said of Warwickshire: ‘the activity of on the ground practitioners from both health and other agencies are well coordinated and there are a number of positive outcomes that can be reported’. The Government office recommended that Warwickshire share their good practice with the other local authorities in the region.
“This is an overwhelmingly positive report and absolutely well done to the team,”
said Elizabeth Featherstone Head of Family and Community at Warwickshire County Council. “It is their persistent approach to getting things right with creativity and imagination thrown in which makes the difference and I’m pleased that the Government Office West Midlands’ evaluation recognised this.”
Councillor Izzi Seccombe, Portfolio Holder for Children, Young People and Families added: “I am sure many of us vastly underestimate the positive impact the Family Information Service has on the lives of Warwickshire families. However this report quite rightly recognises the good practice of the service and is a testament to the hard work of the team and all partner organisations who work with them.”