Supporting Bedford Borough Council to Design its Families First Model

The challenge

Bedford Borough Council is preparing for the implementation of the national Families First reforms. Recognising that successful reform needs to reflect local circumstances and need, Bedford commissioned us to undertake an independent partnership needs assessment to inform the design of its future Families First arrangements.

The assessment is exploring current and emerging need across the partnership, identifying strengths within the existing system, highlighting opportunities for improvement and providing an evidence base to support strategic decision-making, workforce planning and service design.

Our approach

Working collaboratively with Bedford Borough Council and partners, we are bringing together multiple sources of evidence to develop a comprehensive picture of local need. This includes analysis of local data and trends alongside extensive engagement with practitioners, schools, health services, voluntary and community organisations, safeguarding partners, children and families.

Our approach goes beyond identifying need. We are examining how families currently experience services, where pathways work well, where barriers exist, and what this means for the future design of Family Help, MACPT, multi-agency working and wider partnership arrangements. Emerging findings are being shared throughout the project to inform ongoing programme development and support local decision-making as the reforms progress.

Progress so far

The project has already engaged a wide range of stakeholders from across Bedford's partnership, generating valuable insight into both the challenges facing children and families and the strengths that already exist within the local system. We have also supported partnership events where emerging findings have informed discussion, co-production and the continued development of Bedford's Families First programme.

The final needs assessment will provide Bedford Borough Council with a robust evidence base to support implementation, including recommendations to inform future service design, workforce development, partnership working and delivery of Family Help.

Services provided

• Families First reform readiness
• Independent partnership needs assessment
• Data analysis and intelligence
• Workforce and stakeholder engagement
• Family and practitioner voice
• Service design and implementation support
• Co-production facilitation
• Strategic recommendations