Families First for Children Programme
Families First Partnership Update - October 2026
Working together to help children and families thrive across Telford and Wrekin
Welcome to the latest Families First Partnership Programme update. The programme is moving from design into implementation across Family Help, Multi-Agency Child Protection, Family Networks and My Life, My Plan. This edition focuses on what has progressed, what is happening next and where partners need to remain involved as we work towards the March 2027 implementation milestones.
✅Family Help operating arrangements, locality working and workforce requirements are being refined for implementation.
✅Phase one of the Single Assessment and Plan pilot is complete and feedback is informing the next phase of partnership testing.
✅MACPT recruitment and mobilisation are progressing, with operating procedures, partner roles and quality assurance arrangements now the immediate focus.
✅Circles of Support and Family Group Decision Making are increasingly being considered across Family Help, child protection, pre-proceedings, reunification and permanence planning.
✅A multi-agency information-sharing and partner-access design session is taking place on 8 October.
✅The Quarter 2 national monitoring return is open and must be completed and certified by 23 October.
✅Children, young people, parents and carers continue to shape programme materials, practice development and service design.
Programe Update
The programme has moved beyond high-level planning and is now focused on turning the four-pillar model into clear operational arrangements. This includes agreeing roles and pathways, preparing the workforce, completing practice and system changes, strengthening partner contributions and improving the evidence used to track implementation and impact.
The Department for Education reporting cycle is also becoming more detailed. The Quarter 2 return covers service readiness, workforce, activity, risks, expenditure and evidence of progress. Information from workstream and partner leads is being brought together into one assured submission, with a separate certification stage before the national deadline.
Family Help
Work continues to develop a single Family Help offer that brings together targeted early help and section 17 support. The emerging model is based around locality working, continuity of relationships, one assessment and one plan, clearer use of Family Help Lead Practitioners and proportionate social work oversight.
Current priorities
Finalise the operating model, including roles, suitable work types, allocation, supervision, social work oversight and escalation arrangements.
Confirm the locality delivery model and the interface with Family Connect, Family Hubs, Family Safeguarding and MACPT.
Complete the section 17 protocol and align the pathway with the refreshed Pathway to Support.
Assess workforce capacity and development needs across localities and partner organisations.
Ensure families experience continuity of support as needs change, rather than repeated referrals and assessments.
Single Assessment and Plan Development
Phase one of the Single Assessment and Plan pilot has been completed. Practitioner feedback is being used to refine the next iteration, with further testing planned across the partnership. The aim remains to support one family story, one evolving assessment and one coordinated plan, while reducing duplication and repeated telling of information.
The next stage also needs to confirm how partner practitioners contribute, what they need to see, which recording route is proportionate and how the assessment and plan will be supported through future workflows and systems.
Multi-Agency Child Protection Team (MACPT)
The MACPT programme is moving from model development into workforce mobilisation and operational preparation. A Senior Lead Child Protection Practitioner has been appointed, recruitment to further Lead Child Protection Practitioner roles is progressing and education representation has been confirmed.
Immediate focus
Complete the MACPT standard operating procedure and define the role of the team, Lead Child Protection Practitioners and partner agencies.
Confirm arrangements for consultation, escalation, strategy discussions, section 47 activity and quality assurance.
Agree the interface between MACPT, Family Help, Family Connect, conference chairs and Family Group Decision Making.
Complete induction and readiness activity for incoming postholders.
Continue discussions with health and police partners about capacity, representation and the practical delivery model.
Information sharing, data and systems
The Families First reforms and the new statutory information-sharing requirements mean that information sharing must be designed around clear operational need. A multi-agency design session on 8 October will agree priority use cases for Family Help and MACPT, identify which roles need access and consider the safest and most proportionate route for each requirement.
Options include limited access to existing case management systems, a delegation portal, the Shared Care Record, Child InView, structured data feeds and controlled manual routes. Direct system access will not be assumed to be the right answer for every role. The outputs will include a role and access matrix, risks and mitigations, information-governance requirements and recommendations through FFPP governance.
Circles of Support and Family Networks
Circles of Support and Family Group Decision Making continue to be promoted as part of routine practice rather than an additional service offer. The focus is on involving family and trusted networks earlier and at key points in the child’s journey.
Strengthening consistent offers and referral expectations across Family Help, child protection, pre-proceedings, reunification and permanence planning.
Improving the recording of offers, meetings, family plans, reviews and outcomes.
Clarifying Family Network Support Package eligibility, approval, financial arrangements and review.
Supporting partners to hold family network conversations and meetings within their own settings.
Using family feedback and quality assurance to understand what is working and where practice needs further support.
My Life, My Plan and local offers
My Life, My Plan provides a single governance route for work affecting children in care and care leavers. Current priorities include stability, permanence, enduring relationships, return home, sufficiency, care-leaver transitions, education, health, local offers and participation.
The Care Leavers Local Offer has been refreshed with young people, with further work on accessible information for younger teenagers and feedback on what changed.
SEND and inclusion information continues to develop through co-production and the wider reform programme.
The Kinship Local Offer continues to be reviewed with carers and partners to strengthen awareness, accessibility and support.
Work is progressing on the Young Inspectors Programme, digital consultation, young person and parent/carer web content, welcome information and care-leaver communications.
Child and family voice
Children, young people, parents and carers are helping to shape the reforms through the Dandelions, the Voice and Influence team, care-experienced apprentices, kinship carers, participation forums and wider co-production activity. Their contribution includes family-friendly forms and materials, assessments and plans, child protection practice, Family Networks, reunification, kinship, local offers and digital information.
The next step is to make the impact of this involvement more visible. Each workstream is being asked to record who was involved, what was heard, what changed and how the outcome was communicated back. This will help ensure co-production is reflected in decision-making and in the experience of children and families as new arrangements are implemented.
Looking ahead
Complete the 8 October information-sharing and partner-access design session and agree next steps.
Submit and certify the Quarter 2 national monitoring return by 23 October.
Complete the next phase of Single Assessment and Plan testing.
Finalise key Family Help and MACPT operating arrangements and align workforce, practice, systems and training activity.
Strengthen recording and outcome tracking for Family Networks and Family Group Decision Making.
Maintain regular programme communications and make key resources easier for partners, practitioners and families to access.
Continue broadening child and family involvement and demonstrate what has changed as a result.
Key Expectations
Required:
Establish multi-disciplinary Family Help teams, merging family support workers and social workers.
Introduce the new multi-agency Family Help Lead Practitioner (FHLP) role and publish a shared practice framework.
Publish a refreshed threshold document.
Recommended:
Introduce a single assessment and workflow.
Co-locate professionals from different services (e.g., health, education, youth services) to provide holistic support.
Extend proportionate access to case management systems for all partners working with families, particularly those who will take the lead practitioner role
Required:
Create the new Lead Child Protection Practitioner (LCPP) role.
MACPT’s include Police, Health, Education professionals.
Provide information, advice and support to parents and carers in child protection.
Recommended:
Use shared decision-making tools and joint supervision to improve consistency.
Co-locate MACPTs where possible to enhance collaboration.
Develop local protocols for escalation and de-escalation between Family Help and MACPT.
Recommended:
Train practitioners in restorative and relational approaches to facilitate FLDM.
Develop local FLDM coordinators or facilitators to ensure consistency and quality.
Use FLDM to support kinship care planning and reduce the need for care proceedings.
Required:
Safeguarding partners to ensure that education and child care settings are relevant agencies by default, ensuring their views are represented at strategic and operational levels in safeguarding arrangements.
N.B Additional expectation from Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill may include: to make provision to use the Single Unique Identifier.
To support the successful delivery of the Families First Partnership (FFP) Programme, we have established a delivery structure:
A dedicated Project Team comprising leads for data, programme management, practice lead, and finance. This team is responsible for overseeing the coordination, monitoring, and operational delivery of the programme.
A Multi-Agency Strategic Board, bringing together leads and key partners from each of the four workstreams.
Workstream groups will focus on the specific strands.
A project plan is monitored by the project group with oversight from the Strategic Board, and governance groups.
A tiered approach to codesign with families including a co-production group, utilising existing groups and voice forums and seeking wider and under represented voice through a range of engagement methods such as surveys and 1-1 conversations.
This structure supports clear accountability, cross-agency collaboration, and a focused approach to delivering meaningful and sustainable change for children and families.
The guidance is clear that 2025-2026 should be focused on transformation and developing local plans. The Department for Education (DfE) have emphasised that there is flexibility in terms of how and when local authorities implement the guidance, and that they are not expecting a one size fits all model to be implemented on a certain date.
Over the next six months the project team will be working closely with professionals, partner agencies and families to codesign our future offer through a range of engagement events with a regular updates to keep everyone informed of progress.
As part of our ongoing work within the Families First Partnership Programme, we are focusing on several key priorities to ensure successful implementation and long-term impact within Telford & Wrekin. We are identifying recruitment needs early, recognising that getting the right staff in place can be a lengthy process. We’re also working to secure strong multi-agency and elected member support by actively engaging with our partners. Dedicated project management is in place to drive progress, and we’re involving the third sector as a vital resource in delivering support. Staff engagement is a priority; we’re committed to open dialogue, reassurance, and clear communication throughout the change process. Through events, workshops, briefings, and co-production, we’re ensuring that staff and partners are informed and involved. Above all, we’re developing a clear, structured plan; while making sure we retain and build on what already works well.
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Circle of Support
Share information and concerns.
Explore the child's needs. Identify strengths and resources within the family.
Discuss possible care arrangements and support options