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DfES Letter re: Children's Fund

To all Children's Fund Programme Managers/ Chairs

13 February 2004

Dear Programme Managers and Chairs

Partnership Allocations

Tom Jeffery wrote to you on 19 December 2003, setting out the level of over-commitment with the Children's Fund programme and letting you know that this would mean revisions to the allocations to individual partnerships.

Since Tom's letter, I have met the Advisory Forum of Children's Fund representatives to discuss this in more detail. I am aware of the pressing need for partnerships to hear their budget allocations for 04-05 and 05-06. I am sorry that you have had to wait so long for news of the allocation and I apologise for the many difficulties which have arisen over the past few months.

Ministers want to develop a more stable position within the programme and to provide clearer indications of the allocations for the next two years with a package of flexibilities to allow partnerships to focus on the outcomes from the Fund. This letter sets out the package of flexibilities and the allocations for 2004-05 and opens the dialogue on how we collectively deal with 2005-06 and beyond. I will be issuing more detailed guidance on the financial and reporting aspects very shortly.

Ministers have identified new resources from outside the Children's Fund in 2004-05 which means that the total budget for that year will be £160 million. I will be notifying Partnerships of their individual allocations for 2004-05 early next week, but wanted to put this letter out so as to reassure Partnerships that we are taking urgent action to respond to their concerns. Ministers have also agreed a small contingency fund to allow them to respond to exceptional circumstances. More details on how this contingency can be accessed will be included with the revised financial guidance that will be issued shortly.

I appreciate there are further difficult issues about 05-06 and many of you will want to know allocations in detail. However, Ministers wish to approach these issues collaboratively with the sector. Final decisions on that year will not, therefore, be taken until we have consulted and discussed with you how best to handle the situation and until we know the result of the 2004 spending review. We plan to have a comprehensive dialogue with all partnerships on this question over the next few weeks leading up to final decisions and allocations for 05-06 in Summer 2004. Our aim will be to give you a firm planning basis for that and future years at that time.

In revising allocations for 2004-05, I am keen to give partnerships as much flexibility as possible within Government Accounting Rules. This means that I am:

restoring flexibility to reprofile from one quarter to the next during the year. More detailed guidance on this will be issued shortly;
allowing carry forward of end year underspend from 03-04 into 04-05 and from 04-05 into 05-06. For 03-04 carry forward this will be against the revised budget your partnership may have had following the mid year review; and
prepared to remove the requirement for local evaluation, where there is a comparable arrangement in place. I want to discuss with you over the next few weeks how that might best be achieved.

At mid year and at year end, we will want to engage with you to discuss how any resources you do not need can best be re-cycled within the Fund, either regionally or nationally. It is also important that Partnerships improve their claims processes and that quarterly financial reconciliation forms will still be required in order to help us certify expenditure against profile.

25% joint working with YOTS

Following concerns expressed by some Children's Fund partnerships about the prescriptive nature of the menu for joint working with YOTS, Ministers in both this Department and the Home Office are looking to reach agreement soon. I will notify you of the outcome of those discussions as soon as I have them.

2006 onwards

I am very pleased that the Advisory Forum will continue to meet. I hope that this Forum will allow you to raise your concerns or issues arising from the contents of this letter. I would also like you to use the Forum to help us learn the lessons from the management of the Fund to-date and to improve its operation in the future.

I fully recognise that this has been a very difficult and uncertain year for you and your partnership and I am very sorry for the anxiety this has caused. Whilst this letter provides for partial good news, I believe it provide for more certainty and greater freedoms to the Children's Fund. I am very grateful to you for your patience over the past few difficult months.

I look forward to continuing to work with you to deliver the vision of the Children's Fund and to ensure your best practices become the standard for children's services.

Anne Weinstock

Director

Supporting Children & Young People Group

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