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Early education and childcare resource pack

Early education and childcare resource pack

A child’s earliest years are their foundation; if we give them a great start, they have a much better chance of fulfilling their potential as they grow up. This resource pack looks at the responsibilities and role of councils when it comes to education and childcare, outlines funding entitlements and legislation all of which are incredibly important when it comes to supporting our youngest residents.

View allChildren and young people articles
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Good governance for combined authorities

This guide is a tool for public sector practitioners and their associated stakeholders in their commitment to good governance. It provides a reference point for those beginning their journey and seeking to establish their combined authority and offers a detailed checklist for pre-existing combined authorities aiming to improve their leadership, governance, and corporate structures.

View all Sector-led improvement articles
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Top tips and key actions for successful collaborative partnership working across mental health services

These top tips, and key actions, have been co-developed to support effective collaborative partnership working in the planning and delivery of community mental health services. They recognise that every heath and care system will experience challenges in relation to partnership working given the statutory and cultural differences of organisations working across the mental health pathways and that there will be different arrangements to frame local partnership working, including for example a Section 75 agreement.

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International recruitment to adult social care: A guide for councils

International recruitment can help to boost workforce capacity, bring in additional skills and expertise, and provide a more diverse workforce. However, international recruitment to adult social care also creates the conditions that can enable exploitation of social care staff. The purpose of this guide is to provide an overview of the international recruitment process as it relates to adult social care.

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What good looks like: Values-based recruitment in adult social care

Evidence shows that values-based recruitment (VBR) can improve the recruitment and retention of people who perform better and are more satisfied in their care roles. This guide showcases good practice, success factors and evidence of what works in council-led VBR campaigns in different local contexts, to support sector-led improvement. It provides practical insights and advice for organisations wishing to adopt VBR, and a framework to help capture the impact of VBR campaigns.

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Must know for youth services - updated January 2026

Councils have a statutory duty to “secure, so far as is reasonably practicable, sufficient provision of educational and recreational leisure-time activities for young people” and to make sure young people have a say in the local offer. This is often referred to as the ’youth services duty’.

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Partners in Care and Health and Adult PSW Network

A practical resource to help principal social workers prepare for Care Quality Commission assessment

The resource has been developed in response to conversations with, and feedback from principal social workers (PSWs), chairs of national and regional PSW networks and the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services regional leads. It has also been informed by learning from the pilot sites, and tools and techniques from the worlds of coaching and learning and development.

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Local Government White Paper: Summary

Local government is the key to solving some of our biggest national challenges. Now must be a time for change and new hope.

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Local Government White Paper

There has never been a more difficult time for local government. Rising demand and costs have meant the toughest of choices, with less to spend on the services that communities value. Yet the sector continues to show great resilience and continues to innovate.

Our 100 offers to the new government

Our 100 offers to the new government

These are the 100 issues on which we are offering to work on with the new government.

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