Case studies

The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, and Westminster City Council, known as London’s Bi-Borough, adopted a collaborative approach to drive transformation in 2018 with the ambition of being the number one SEND service in the country; a target which has been accomplished.

Barnet has increasing numbers of Unaccompanied Asylum-Seeking Children (UASC) moving into their area, all needing tailored support from social, welfare and educational services up to the age of 25. Based on experience, the council is developing a specialist team particularly skilled and experienced to work with UASC. This team has identified gaps in UASC support locally, such as educational engagement and access to finances, and has taken steps to address these.

Parents are children’s first teachers, but we know that many parents need support in this really important role if their child is to reach their full potential. The London Borough of Bexley are using the BBC’s Tiny Happy People (THP) resources universally across the Local Authority and with partners to share key messages and learning opportunities.

A relationships education, relationships and sex education (RSE) working group was established in late 2017. It has been meeting termly, providing a forum for information sharing, discussion and advice on the support to schools to get ready for the changes. This case study is an example of the many pro-active and positive approaches which local authorities are taking to support inclusive RSE.

As the number and regularity of Unaccompanied Asylum-Seeking Children (UASC) arriving in Sutton increases, the council have reviewed how best to support these young people in their community. The authority have looked at how the same high standards of support their social care team provides to all children and young people can be tailored to meet the particular needs of UASC.

Multiple London Boroughs have come together and found new and innovative ways to work in partnership to solve the issue of children being remanded into custody in the capital.

In north Manchester clinical commissioning group funding has supplemented investment by the council to create a network of breastfeeding support for new mothers.

The London Borough of Merton has encouraged its Family Nurse Partnership and health visiting service to work closely with local children’s centres. It has seen the number of young parents using the centres rapidly increase. This case study is an example of the work that councils are doing to support young parents.

Oldham Council was the first area in the country to pilot MH:2K, a powerful new model for engaging young people in conversations about mental health in their local area. 

Young Minds Yoga is a weekly exercise session giving young people the chance to relax and discuss problems with professionals, plus help reduce the impact and severity of mental health problems. Their parents or carers can also stay and chat to children and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS) staff or each other providing peer-to-peer support.