Bedford Children's Services Restructure: 3 Family Help Teams

Bedford Borough Council is restructuring its children’s services. Early help and social work for children in need will merge into three “Family Help” teams, covering the south, centre and north of the borough. The new structure is due to start on 31 March 2027.

Formal consultation with staff and trade unions began today, Tuesday 3 November, and runs to 3 December. The council says the changes will follow its redundancy procedure.

The plans are set out in a report to the Children’s Services Overview and Scrutiny Committee, which meets on Monday 9 November.

Why it is happening

Every council in England has to make this change. The government’s Families First Partnership programme requires all councils to have the new model working by the end of March 2027. It is the main part of the national reform of children’s social care that followed the independent review led by Josh MacAlister.

The report also gives local reasons. It says the borough’s current structure “is no longer fit for purpose” and that the system “is stronger at responding to crisis than at working below the social care threshold to prevent escalation”. It also points to a forecast overspend on high-cost placements.

What changes for families

The proposed model includes:

• three locality Family Help teams (South, Central and North), handling early help, child in need and child protection cases, with a target of 15 cases per worker
• one family assessment and plan that stays with a family, so they tell their story fewer times
• a multi-agency child protection team, with social care, health, police and education leads working in one team on the highest-risk cases
• a bigger Adolescent Response Team for teenagers at risk of exploitation, violence or serious mental health problems
• “walking into help” at the Family Hubs, which the council has run in house since 1 October, with attendance, parenting and wellbeing support in one place
• more family group meetings, where relatives help decide how a child is kept safe, with an independent coordinator if the family wants one

The locality teams would be based at Borough Hall, with desks at community sites in each area.

The money and the timetable

The council says the changes can be made within the existing budget. Its 2027/28 Children, Families and Youth Grant is £3,190,350, made up of:

• £1,802,585 for Families First services
• £699,795 for other children’s social care
• £687,970 for the Holiday Activities and Food programme

The report does not say how many posts are affected, or whether any jobs will go.

Where the service stands now

A separate progress report to the same meeting gives the current picture. As of 26 October:

• the average caseload across children’s social care was 19, against a target of 17
• the three assessment teams had 11 agency workers among 15 staff
• overall, 78% of filled posts were permanent
• the number of children on a child protection plan had fallen to 190

What it means for you

• If your family already works with children’s services, nothing changes before 31 March 2027. The council says families should see fewer handovers between workers after that.
• If you need help now, the Family Hubs are open to any family with children. Details are on the council’s Family Hubs page.
• If you think a child is in immediate danger, call 999.
• Councillors discuss both reports on Monday 9 November at 6.30pm. Papers are on the council’s committee site.

Separately, the same committee will look at the borough’s school results, where primary results are now the third most improved in England.