Children and Young People’s Plan 2025-2026

Contents

1. West Cheshire Children and Young People’s Plan on a Page

2. Foreword

3. Introduction

4. About the Plan – Vision, Ownership, Trauma Informed Approach to practice and links with other partnerships

5. Engagement Findings

6. Strategic Objectives for 2025-2026 

7. How we will deliver the plan

8. How we will involve children and young people

9. Annex A – Summary of makeup of Cheshire West and Chester

10. Annex B – West Cheshire Children’s Trust: Children and Young People’s Plan – engagement findings

11. Annex C – Governance Structure of the Trust 

 

1. West Cheshire Children and Young People’s Plan on a Page

Vision

In West Cheshire we will work together to support families to keep children and young people happy, healthy and safe.

 

Strategic Outcomes

Prevention To provide the right support at the right time to ensure the best outcomes for children and families to avoid the need for statutory services.

Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) and Inclusion Support children, young people with SEND and their families to have inclusive opportunities, to have their needs met at the right place at the right time and ensure they are happy, healthy and safe.

Emotional Health and Mental Wellbeing To promote and improve the emotional health and mental wellbeing of children, young people and their families.

 

Enablers

West Cheshire Children’s Trust – dynamic partnership working

Trauma Informed Approach

A confident and Skilled Workforce

Commissioning, Monitoring and Reporting

 

2. Foreword

One of the honours I have as Cabinet member for children and families is to Chair the West Cheshire Children’s Trust. I am delighted in this role to present the Children and Young People’s Plan for West Cheshire for 2025. The plan represents our vision for the next year, highlighting areas where we can do more together to benefit the children, young people and their families of West Cheshire. We have done some great engagement with young people, families and partners that have influenced our priorities and it’s important we follow through and use their feedback effectively to impact our work to get the best outcomes for all children and young people.

Councillor Adam Langan, Executive and Cabinet Member for Children and Families

3. Introduction

4. About the Plan – Vision, Ownership, Trauma Informed Approach to practice and links with other partnerships.

Vision
Our Vision Is that – In West Cheshire we will work together to support families to keep children and young people happy, healthy and safe.

Ownership

This Plan has been produced by West Cheshire Children’s Trust.

Our responsibilities include:

• Developing, publishing and reviewing the Children and Young People’s Plan,
• Outlining the strategic framework for how partners will co-operate to improve the wellbeing of children and young people in Cheshire West and Chester (West Cheshire Strategic Commissioning Framework),
• Monitoring the extent to which the partners act collaboratively to deliver the Children and Young People’s Plan,
• Work with the Cheshire West and Chester Safeguarding Children Partnership (SCP) to keep children and young people safe and protected,
• Work with and report to the Health and Wellbeing Board (HWBB) to ensure that priorities in the Cheshire West Place Plan are reflected in the Children and Young People’s Plan and to act as the delivery mechanism for those priorities.

Trauma Informed Approach to Practice

We consider trauma to have deep and profound effects. Examples are the diagnosis of serious illness, poverty, death and loss to abuse and neglect. To practice in a trauma informed way we must understand how trauma can impact families through generations and everyday lives.

Through working in this way, we start to develop our shared language and understanding, shifting our thinking from asking ‘what’s wrong’ to ‘what’s happened’. This enables us to consider the root causes of the pain, behaviours and difficulties children, young people and adults are experiencing.

Four key principles outline how we practice in a trauma informed way:

• Recognise
• Respond
• Avoid Re-traumatisation
• Build Resilience

Links with other partners

We work in conjunction with other partnerships, share practice and communications and where issues arise escalate presenting challenges to the appropriate group responsible for that area of work.

• Health and Wellbeing Board
• Domestic Abuse Partnership
• Safeguarding Children Partnership (SCP)
• Integrated Care Board
• SEND Strategic Partnership Board

5. Engagement findings

An engagement exercise was undertaken on behalf of the Trust between October 2024 and January 2025 to inform the development of a new West Cheshire Children and Young People’s Plan.

369 people were spoken to via a variety of methods, across a range of groups and communities (including professionals, children and young people and their families).

Overwhelmingly respondents identified a lack of early intervention and prevention across the system, calling for increased resource in Early Help services, improved connectivity and funding distribution in the community sector and universal access to low-level support.

Strengths were also highlighted and grouped under the following headings: Inclusivity, School, Early Help, Independence and aspirations, community and socialisation, support for parents/carers, co-production and community-based support.

The feedback from engagement can be broadly grouped under the following headings of Availability of Support, Culture and Stigma, SEND, Mental Health, School, Communication, Navigation across systems, Service Sustainability and Policy and Process. Details of challenges and opportunities under these headings can be found at Annex B.

6. Strategic Objectives for 2025-2026

There are significant changes coming from the Department for Education including aligning the approach to targeted support and Children in Need, this, together with the appointment of the new Director of Children’s Services for Cheshire West and Chester Council has led to the decision to have a one-year transitional Plan.

The one-year Children and Young People’s Plan is based on evidence from past performance, needs assessments, and shaped through engagement with children, young people and professionals who work with them (Annex B). The Strategic Objectives and priorities going forward have been agreed with all partners. The Children and Young People’s Plan sets a clear direction for the West Cheshire Children’s Trust for the next year. The Trust has agreed the following revised strategic objectives:

 

Overarching Objectives – children and young people’s voices are embedded in all that the Trust does.

	Strategic Objective
1	To provide the right support at the right time to ensure the best outcomes for children and families to avoid the need for statutory services – Prevention
2	Support children, young people with SEND and their families to have inclusive opportunities, to have their needs met at the right place at the right time and ensure they are happy, healthy and safe – Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) and Inclusion.
3	To promote and improve the emotional health and mental wellbeing of children, young people and their families – Emotional Health and Mental Wellbeing (EH&MWB).

Strategic Objective 1

Prevention

Lead: Head of Service, Early Help and Prevention – (Zara Woodcock)

Every family deserves a happy life free from harm. We want to provide the right support at the right time to ensure the best outcomes for children and families to avoid the need for statutory services

Why is this a priority?

• There is significant evidence that intervening earlier negates the need for more intrusive involvement in families lives. To improve the life chances of children, young people and their families who face a range of challenges that are impacting on their life chances agencies need to work in collaboration.

What we want to achieve

• To work alongside children, young people and families, using a strengths-based approach, to provide targeted support at an early stage to secure better outcomes and prevent the need for more intensive support.

What we will do

• Work together towards the government’s commitment to keeping children safe and helping families thrive.
• Through a think family approach address parental factors, for example emotional health and wellbeing and alcohol misuse to ensure better outcomes for children
• Maximise the contribution from charity, voluntary and faith sectors
• Ensure school readiness by nurturing the whole child
• Work collaboratively to increase and maintain high levels of school attendance
• Encourage participation in positive activities for young people
• Prepare children for positive transitions

Strategic Objective 2

SEND and Inclusion

Lead: Director/Head of Service for Education, Inclusion and SEND

Support children, young people with SEND and their families to have inclusive opportunities, to have their needs met at the right place at the right time and ensure they are happy, healthy and safe.

Why is this a priority?

• Every West Cheshire child or young person with or without special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) should have their needs met, as far as possible, in their local community, in local early years providers, schools and Further Education Colleges.

What we want to achieve

• To improve the educational, health and emotional wellbeing outcomes of our children with SEND by further developing a continuum of provision from birth until their education outcomes are met and to integrate services more across health, education and social care and where possible jointly commission services in order to ensure consistency of offer and provision across West Cheshire.

What we will do

• Enable children and young people to access the appropriate and effective full-time curriculum and environment suitable to their needs
• Increased focus on early intervention and identification of needs
• Further develop effective transition to Preparing for Adulthood
• Co-production
• Sufficiency and Commissioning
• Quality and Timeliness of Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs)

Strategic Objective 3

Emotional Health and Mental Wellbeing

To promote and improve the emotional health and mental wellbeing of children, young people and their families. Ensure children and young people have appropriate access to services to support their emotional health and mental wellbeing

Lead: Programme lead for Starting Well, Maternity and Children and Young people’s Mental Health – (Heather Cattrell)

Why is this a priority?

• Children and young people are telling us that increasing local mental and emotional health and wellbeing services for all young people is a priority and that happiness, self-confidence, self-esteem and feeling empowered are important to them.

What we want to achieve

• Improve children and young people’s mental wellbeing.

What we will do

• Enable children and young people to maintain good health and wellbeing
• Identify and act on factors in health and education that could impact negatively on children’s emotional health and wellbeing.
• Identify the gaps in opportunities to improve early interventions for emotional resilience and mental health by jointly commissioning services with the community and voluntary sector, improving support available to meet emotional wellbeing and early mental health needs for non-school attenders and their wider families.
• Improve access to Community Emotional Wellbeing and Mental Health Crisis support for 0–25-year-olds and reduce emergency department attendance.
• Improve support for Children in Care, in the Youth Justice System, vulnerable and seldom heard groups by working in collaboration to reduce health inequalities in accessing emotional wellbeing and mental health services.
• Design and develop an equitable offer of emotional wellbeing and mental health support and improve access into services and pathways for people with SEND and Care Leavers aged 18-25.
• Review and redesign the Cheshire West Children and Young People Neurodevelopmental Pathway to improve access and oversight of children and young people from referral to diagnosis.
• Improve children and young people’s access to high quality and evidence-based eating disorder support and reduce admissions.
• Provide appropriate places of care – including The Nook model implementation and Think Family approach.
• Listen to children and young people with lived experience to help shape our services and improve outcomes

7. How we will deliver the Plan

Services across Cheshire West and Chester will work collaboratively to deliver the plan.

Progress will be monitored through governance.

Commissioning

Effective commissioning and contracting are woven throughout the Plan through the Strategic Objectives and outcomes/themes. West Cheshire Children’s Trust is a strategic commissioning partnership. On an annual basis the Executive will review the commissioning priorities for the Trust. There is a Joint Commissioning Framework for the Trust.

Governance

Structure

The West Cheshire Children’s Trust structure comprises of the following:

Children’s Trust Executive – The Executive is the decision-making body of the Trust. The Trust is responsible for managing the business processes of the Children’s Trust and delivery of services in line with the agreed priorities.

Children’s Trust Strategic Sub-groups – The sub-groups of the Children’s Trust are accountable to the Children’s Trust Executive. They are responsible for the development of integrated operational delivery, ensuring that services are delivered in line with the priorities and local needs identified within the Children and Young People’s Plan.

The Sub-groups have detailed Strategies and Action Plans which are reviewed on a quarterly basis. The Executive will receive progress reports at mid-year and year-end. Regular reports are presented to the Health and Wellbeing Board on progress and developments. The Governance structure for West Cheshire Children’s Trust can be found at Annex C.

8. How we will involve children and young people

There are different ways of working together including engaging, consultation and co-production. We want to continue working with children and young people. Based on the responses we have received during the engagement process there are improvements we can make including providing regular feedback through a ‘You said, we did’ approach.

Cheshire West and Chester Council and partners recognise the importance of co-production and the difference it can make when identifying, understanding and developing how to meet the needs of children and young people and their families and carers. It changes people from being “voices” to partners by involving them directly in the design and delivery of services, recognising that everyone has their own skills and knowledge to offer.

 

Annex A – Summary of makeup of Cheshire West and Chester

Population

The borough of Cheshire West and Chester covers approximately 350 square miles and is the fourth largest unitary authority in the Northwest. An estimated 365,100 people live in Cheshire West, with just over a quarter living in rural areas (ONS Mid-year 2023 population estimates). According to the 2021 Census, there are 8.8% residents from ethnic minority communities in CW&C, which is far less than the 26.5% England average. Polish is the most frequently spoken non-English language.

Table 1: Cheshire West and Chester Population Estimates

Age Group	CW&C Count	CW&C%	England%
0-15	62,766	17.2%	18.5%
16-64	223,423	61.3%	62.8%
65+	78,872	21.5%	18.8%
85+	10,421	2.9%	2.5%
All Ages	365,061	100.0%	100.0%

Source: Population estimate mid-2023, Office for National Statistics

Chart 1: Cheshire West and Chester population proportion by 5-year age band

 

Analysis of our Children and Young People

• Approximately 10,796 children live in low-income families which equates to 17.3% of the families in CW&C compared to 20.1% in the UK (2022/23 data). There were seven wards where more than a quarter of children live in low-income families. Low-income families are those claiming child and household benefit with an income less than 60% of the UK median household income (relative measure before housing costs) (source: Children in low-income families, 2022/2023 local area statistics, Department for Work & Pensions, Office for National Statistics).
• The majority of education outcomes are broadly in line with those seen nationally. This is not the case however for disadvantaged pupils across all key stages, with the attainment, progress and attendance of this group continuing to be a priority (data source Gov.UK)
• The Social Mobility Index 2024 found children brought up in Cheshire West and Chester have ‘favourable’ conditions of childhood. This means parents are generally more likely to have higher earnings, higher levels of education and higher occupation levels.  However, the Index also reported the ‘region’ of Cheshire (Cheshire West and Chester, Cheshire East and Warrington) in the bottom 20% of ‘regions’ for the indicator ‘Attainment at age 16 (free school meal eligible)’.  Source: Social Mobility Index 2024, Social Mobility Commission, Conditions of childhood – Social Mobility Commission State of the Nation – GOV.UK, Attainment at age 16 – Social Mobility Commission State of the Nation – GOV.UK
• There is an increase in children and young people with complex needs, especially where domestic abuse, exploitation and family emotional health and wellbeing are contributory factors.
• The emotional health and wellbeing of our young people is an area of focus, and we have a significantly higher rates of self-harm for young people aged 10 to 24 than the national average (2023/2024). The rate of hospital admissions for unintentional and deliberate injuries in children is also significantly higher than the England average for both those aged 0 to 14 years and 15 to 24 years (2023/24) (Source: Public Health Profiles, Office for Health Improvement and Disparities).
• Demand for services that support children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) is growing. We have more children in specialist provision and funding is not keeping up with this growth which reflects the national picture.

 

Schools in Cheshire West and Chester – Breakdown of school by Type

Type	PRU	Primary	Secondary	Special	Totals
Community		42	1	8	51
C of E Voluntary Controlled		17			17
C of E Voluntary Aided		13	1		14
Catholic Voluntary Aided		10	1		11
Foundation			4		4
PRU’s	2				2
Academy		44	12	2	58
Studio			1		1
Free School		2			2
Totals	2	128	20	10	160

 

Annex B – West Cheshire Children’s Trust: Children and Young People’s Plan – engagement findings

Availability of Support – Challenges

• Referral processes and pathways feel too long, meaning the system is too slow to respond and complexity increases
• System favours targeted families – there’s a lack of universally accessible support services for both CYP and families
• Gap between universal and targeted services means that some CYP / families fall through without any help
• CYP lack role models and lack confidence to try new activities
• Services are quick to discharge due to non-engagement, without understanding or addressing barriers
• Families are becoming more complex, with more children experiencing trauma, but resource and funding is reduced
• Some services not available across the borough – postcode lottery
• Isolation in rural communities, lack of accessible services and transport
• Lack of universally accessible education for parent/carers to equip them with interventions and strategies to support their family
• Parent/cares with poor mental health and/or undiagnosed neurodiversity are left without support

Availability of Support – Opportunities

• Reprofile funding to facilitate universally accessible services/activities in communities, which bring families into support without placing demand on social care
• Create a menu of services/activities which bring families together and create behaviour change
• Open up education provision (e.g. nurture programme) to include universal eligibility – consider train the trainer model.

Culture and Stigma – Challenges

• Feedback from CYP and families does not turn into action
• Families are reluctant to engage with early help due to pride and the stigma that surrounds engagement with social care
• CYP and families feel that services are ‘done to’ them
• Perceived relationship imbalance across the health / social care / education system creates a lack of clarity on who is doing what
• People feel their voice is not heard and therefore not used to influence strategic decision making
• Lack of inclusivity in healthcare services, resulting in some groups/communities feeling marginalised in the service they receive

Culture and Stigma – Opportunities

• Embed a strength and asset-based approach across the system
• Create culture change by educating families that accepting help does not mean you are entering the social care system – provide reassurance that the system is supportive rather than punitive
• Encourage and facilitate collaboration to address gaps in services, particularly in the community sector
• Empower CYP and families to be heard and empower them to become a partner in strategic decision making and service design
• Close feedback loop – advise what has changed as a result of views shared

Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) – Challenges

• Lack of support options once a diagnosis has been received, families feel ‘abandoned’
• Diagnosis and treatment process unclear to families and support options not properly explained – expectations are not managed
• Parents/carers conditioned by society to believe an EHCP is the answer to the challenges they face
• Private diagnoses do not face the rigour of traditional assessments and can raise expectations that cannot be met

Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) – Opportunities

• More post-diagnosis support is available to families
• Improved understanding of pathway and process for diagnosis
• Support for parents to advocate for reasonable adjustments in school
• Equip professionals across the system with strategies to consistently manage expectations of parents regarding the support available throughout their journey
• Support systems should be needs-led rather than diagnosis-led

Mental Health – Challenges

• Prevalence of mental health issues in CYP increasing
• CYP falling through a gap in service provision when their needs are not high enough to meet CAMHS threshold but exceed the eligibility criteria for low level support provision (e.g. MHST)
• Younger children are presenting with self-harm, but the system does not provide an accessible support unless they are in crisis
• Lack of confidence in CYP and families restrict them from engaging in community-based support which could help them to address mental health concerns

Mental Health – Opportunities

• Increase availability of support / interventions available to CYP who don’t meet CAMHS threshold
• Explore options for a peer support or ‘community connector’ model, which uses existing assets to ‘handhold’ CYP and their families into community-based services (e.g. the arts, team sports)

School – Challenges

• Increase in Children who are not ready to learn when they reach primary school
• Neurodivergence not picked up early due to masking in school
• School staff are not confident and not adequately supported in addressing SEMH / SEND issues
• CYP notice that their neurodiverse peers are treated without kindness and can empathise with the situation
• Relationship between schools and other services (e.g. Early Help, mental health) is fractured

School – Opportunities

• More training for schools staff around SEND and SEMH, providing support to them to manage behaviour, deliver interventions and hold risk
• Improve relationships between Early Help /Social Care and Education
• Support and educate parents/carers to guide their CYP safely through transition of education Stages

Communication – Challenges

• Live Well site is inaccurate, difficult to navigate and not intuitive
• Professionals (including Early Help teams and schools) are not aware of breadth of support options available to CYP/ families
• YP don’t feel equipped with adequate information of services which can meet their support needs
• Information is not provided in a consistent and coordinated way, so professionals and families are not always reached

Communication – Opportunities

• Consolidate communications channels within the system (particularly schools) to provide timely, accurate and concise information regarding support available: “Least number of words with the most amount of information”
• Redevelop Live Well service directory to be more friendly, intuitive and accurate
• Make better use of social media to communicate with families and CYP

Navigation – Challenges

• The health and social care system is confusing to all and there is no single place where people can go to develop their understanding of it
• Families are weary of knocking on the wrong door and being sent along the wrong pathway
• There is a perceived relationship imbalance (from families, CYP and professionals) across the health /social care / education system which results in a lack of clarity on who is doing what
• Conflicting advice from trusted professionals means families don’t know which way to turn

Navigation – Opportunities

• Provide a clear and succinct map of the health and social care system, with the ability to drill
• down into processes and pathways within individual themed areas (e.g. SEND, mental health)
• Create opportunities for professionals to work collaboratively across sectors and build
• understanding of each other’s role and responsibilities

Service Sustainability – Challenges

• Lack of consistent funding streams (for community sector in particular) results in relied upon services starting and stopping
• Lack of voluntary sector funding creates competition, reduces collaboration and can result in duplicated services and glaring gaps

Service Sustainability – Opportunities

• Improved relationship and collaboration between Public Sector commissioners and community sector to fill gaps in universal support
• Improved support for community sector organisations to become strategic partners with the Council
• Family Hubs cradle to grave approach, provide support for whole family using strengths and assets in their local community

Policy and Process – Challenges

• CYP and families have to tell their story time and time again
• Paperwork and processes reflect the needs of the service rather than the family
• Voice of the child is not always adequately represented in assessment processes and Paperwork

Policy and Process – Opportunities

• Review assessment and care planning paperwork to ensure its family-led and showcases the voice of the child
• Develop understanding of Council processes for families and professionals
• Review language used in communications and
• interventions with families (e.g. ‘parenting’ programme has negative connotations)

Annex C – Governance structure of the Trust