Interview with Tim Byles Transforming outcomes for young people ‐ a chief executive's view

The Government's vision for children's services in England and Wales, Every Child Matters (DfES, 2003), and the subsequent Children Act 2004 are ground‐breaking in that they encourage local authorities to focus on child outcomes and demand the integration of previously separate services, such as social care and education. Previous articles in this series were by Herbert Laming (2006), whose inquiry helped pave the way for the 2004 legislation, Tom Jeffery (2006), the Director‐General of the central government Directorate for Children, Young People and Families, and John Coughlan (2006), a Director of Children's Services in one local authority and president of the Association of Directors of Social Services.This article offers the perspective Tim Byles, Chief Executive of Partnerships for Schools, a joint venture between Partnerships UK ‐ established by HM Treasury six years ago ‐ and the Department for Education and Skills ‐ the UK government's lead department on children's services. The remit of Partnerships for Schools is to rebuild or renew every secondary school in England over a 15‐year time period. Previously, Tim Byles was Chief Executive in Norfolk, a local authority with a population of 830,000 and a budget of £1.25 billion. In that job, Tim took a pivotal role not only in implementing the Children Act 2004, but also in working with central government to resolve problems that emerged as the bill passed through parliament. What follows is an edited transcript of Tim Byles's comments.