§ Helen JonesTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what estimate he has made of the training requirements which will result from(a) local authorities bringing all their children's services under the direction of one accountable officer and (b) the setting up of Children's Trusts; and what provision he has made in his departmental budget to meet such costs. [179243]
§ Margaret HodgeIn 2004–05 the £20 million Change Fund, announced in the "Every Child Matters: Next Steps" document, will be used in part to develop cross-sector leadership programmes to support directors of children's services and their key local partners, and to support the next generation of directors. It will also be used to assist local authorities, primary care trusts and others in developing Children's Trusts, including through joint workforce training.
We are also providing up to £100,000 per year until 2005–06 to the 35 Children's Trusts Pathfinders to support activities such as joint training.
1210WLocal authorities will continue to fund their own programmes of workforce development, but we would expect to see more programmes of joint training as the authorities and their partners move towards integrated working through Children's Trusts. We are also currently considering our plans for the next spending review period from 2005–08.