There are almost 200,000 children's professionals and practitioners needed to deliver children's centres – and one million-plus to deliver the extended services in and around schools required under the Children Act by 2010. The opportunity to create a newly-focused and invigorated children's workforce based on the principles of Every child matters is overwhelming. However, add to that the potential of integrating youth work, social care and areas such as fostering, and the scale of the undertaking is clear. Reforming the children's workforce is a major challenge for local authorities which will require strategic vision, leadership and delivery drive. The Children Act 2005 and Childcare Act 2006 put a new emphasis and priority on integrating children's services. The Childcare Act places new duties on the local authority to reduce inequalities between children under the age of five, for the first time. Key to achieving this will be the successful integration of support – backed up by a skilled and effective workforce. The children's workforce – with its hundreds of separate qualifications, low status, and wide range of pay and conditions – needs to be transformed into a unified sector, capable of delivering the integrated vision of joined-up children's services. On the ground, people involved with children are beginning to work across institutional and professional boundaries, with an increasing focus around the needs of the child. But, to achieve these changes, we need to go much further than co-operation – useful though it is. Central to any local strategy is the children's workforce plan, building on the Government's own ‘children's workforce strategy'. Support for delivering the five Every child matters outcomes needs to be key, with a stronger focus on early identification and prevention. A ‘common core of skills and knowledge', including child development, child welfare and safeguarding children, will form part of qualifications for working with children and families, and will act as a foundation for training and development programmes run by employers and training organisations. From the Government's perspective, the foundations of the infrastructure for the children's workforce are increasingly in place. This includes the Children's Workforce Development Council – chaired by Estelle Morris, MP – as well as the development of new integrated qualifications and the £250m ‘transformation fund' to raise the quality and status of the early years workforce. However, for a local authority, the work is often just beginning. It is the local strategies to build and promote a good-quality and high-status workforce for children – across all sectors – that will really make a difference. Leading the way in recruiting and rewarding a new children's workforce is a key role for local authorities, and one which many with successful children's services have undertaken for some time. Get the basics right for a workforce that is well led and co-ordinated, well respected and trained and well paid, and so much more will follow. w Matthew Payne is head of business management at 4Children Consultancy. 4Children, in partnership with the National Children's Bureau, is developing an innovative Integrated practice training programme for frontline childcare and children's practitioners in the private, voluntary and community sector. For more information, contact 4Children on 020 7512 2100, or log on to www.4Children.org.uk
