Further government funding secured for children’s social care reform
Families across Wirral are set to benefit from an additional year of support as the government confirms a funding extension for the Families First for Children (FFC) Pathfinder.
Originally set to end in March 2025, the programme, designed to reform and improve children’s social care, will now continue until March 2026.
Cllr Stephen Bennett, Chair of the Children, Young People and Education Committee for Wirral Council said:
This funding extension gives us the opportunity to build on the progress we’ve already made. Families and professionals are seeing real improvements, with faster response times – sometimes in just a few hours – and families are feeling more supported. This additional year allows us to further develop and enhance the systems and processes we’ve put in place, ensuring that we can continue to make a positive impact locally and nationally on children’s social care.
The FFC Pathfinder funding was first announced in April 2024, with Wirral being chosen as one of the seven local authorities to carry out the pilot reforms.
The programme aims to improve support for families, helping more children stay in safe, loving homes while protecting vulnerable children from harm when necessary. It looks to provide targeted early help for families suffering domestic abuse, addiction, or poor mental health; to help them overcome adversity before issues escalate and children are put at risk.
The pilot is being delivered through four areas:
- Family Networks: makes use of extended family networks to help children stay with people they already know and trust in their network, this may include providing financial and practical support if needed.
- Family Help: multi-disciplinary teams provide early and practical support to families with multiple needs earlier and in one place.
- Multi-Agency Child Protection Teams (MACPTs): MACPTs brings together professionals from different organisations to better coordinate responses to instances of significant or serious harm to children.
- Multi-Agency Safeguarding Arrangements (MASAs): creates stronger and clearer multi-agency safeguarding processes, including an increased strategic role for education in safeguarding.
Read about how FFC Pathfinder is already making a difference to families across Wirral by visiting Families First: A New Approach to Helping Wirral Families
