Sutton LBC

This award is open to a single council or where appropriate a partnership of councils, or a council- owned company. Private sector partners can enter on a council’s behalf, with the permission of the council itself. Children’s services are very much under pressure, and ever more so in the face of a cost of living crisis, adding to the numbers of potentially vulnerable children. There is an imperative to protect vulnerable children, the importance of early intervention and the changing relationship with schools – all under an intense media and now social spotlight. This award is intended to recognise the success of those councils that adopt a genuinely strategic approach to this vital service area in the face of extraordinary challenges. Entries can focus either on a specific aspect of the council’s work on children’s services or the entirety of its work on children’s services.

Kick Start Futures is a scheme in Sutton that provides wrap-around services of high quality accommodation, care and tailored 1-2-1 support to unaccompanied asylum-seeking young people to ensure they can live well independently. Since its launch, our young people on the scheme have reported feeling safer, all of them are registered with a GP, and over 80% are in some form of education, training or employment. The scheme has also proven successful in providing an alternative to high cost semi-independent accommodation, that was often located outside of Sutton and has since been rolled out to support young people leaving care.