Removing barriers to the Children’s Services Co-operation Act
Date published:
The Children’s Services Co-operation Act (Northern Ireland) 2015 was designed to improve the outcomes for children and young people by enabling greater collaboration, resource pooling, and integrated service delivery across public bodies. However, the Public Accounts Committee Report on Child Poverty in Northern Ireland identified that bureaucratic and administrative burdens, alongside a lack of detailed guidance, have limited the Act’s effectiveness and full realisation. It called on the Department of Finance to work with other departments to review the barriers to the effective
In response, the Department undertook an information gathering exercise with stakeholders in government and local councils to identify legislative, administrative, and operational barriers to pooling resources and delivering integrated services. The “Removing barriers to the Children’s Services Co-operation Act” report outlines the key barriers identified alongside a series of actions to address these barriers.