Home to more than one million residents and one of the youngest populations in Europe, we are committed to delivering better outcomes for every child, every family and every community.
Elected members, and our partners across the city, have together developed a clear vision to be a modern council. Designed to develop our people and communities and to focus on our priorities of children, housing, health, jobs and skill, this vision provides an exciting and challenging prospect for growth across Birmingham, where every child, citizen and place matters.
The Children & Families Directorate supports 320,000 children and young people with universal services, of which 13,665 have an Education, Health and Care Plan. Moreover, we support 5,200 children and young people currently open to social care through the Virtual School for vulnerable children.
Across the city, we work with a total of 446 schools (295 primary schools, 82 secondary schools, one 16-19 free school, 7 all through schools, 27 special schools, 27 maintained nursery schools, six alternative provision free schools and one pupil referral unit). Of these, 187 are maintained schools, 34 are voluntary-aided, 21 are foundation schools and 256 are academies. We also have 21 free schools, one studio school and one university technical college.
The Directorate’s 1,200 staff cover 26 service areas across a range of professional disciplines, including regulated front-line roles and clinical services. Our areas of expertise include early years, SEND and inclusion, education safeguarding, universal education services, schools, careers, Youth services, 14-19 education, to employability and skills.
The Directorate is committing to getting the basics right:
Culture is also high on the Directorate’s agenda, and our ethos is that:
The Directorate is committed to achieving better outcomes by:
At the heart of the service is our vision that Birmingham children thrive and that all children and young people in the city are safe, healthy, included, confident and achieving. They are supported by a Children’s Services Directorate that has strong governance and management, engaged staff, and a clear strategy, and by partnership organisations across the city that work together as one system putting children and families at the heart of everything they do.
Our hard work and investment has already delivered significant and sustained improvement. In 2023, all five areas inspected by Ofsted were given a ‘Good’ grading, with many positive highlights focusing on areas including the quality of staff leadership, partnership working, safeguarding and corporate parenting. The report said;
“Since the last inspection in 2018, much progress has been made by Birmingham City Council and Birmingham Children’s Trust in improving the experiences and outcomes of their children. Children are now safeguarded through effective ‘front door’ arrangements, thorough child protection assessments and a strong response to safeguarding children at risk of exploitation.”
Read the 2023 Ofsted judgement
Find out more about how the Birmingham Children’s Trust makes a difference