1. Innovation through "subtraction"

Children’s services -health, education, social care, police and youth justice- are about to experience huge financial cut-backs. Some might argue the biggest cuts ever are upon us.

In the UK, with a general election almost upon us, there is a temptation to see the impending challenge in party political terms. That would be a mistake. What must be faced in the UK must be faced by all economically developed nations. We still live in a Keynesian world. Governments have been investing to stave off the worst effects of recession. Now we have to repay those investments.
 
There is a lot of fear. It is not just for the future of children it is also about jobs and livelihoods. As a small charitable foundation we feel the threat as much as any other children’s services organisation. There is no certainty we will continue to exist. But we also see many opportunities for children and for children’s services in the bleak economic outlook. Maybe it is going too far to say that the huge increase in spending over the last decade has injured child well-being.
 
But it is not unreasonable to suggest that spending less can be an effective route to better child health and development.
 
Over the next few months, the Social Research Unit will be contributing ideas about how to get the best for children with less resources in a series of blogs.
 
As befits a blog we do not wish to over anticipate the way the conversation will develop. But we know we have observations on the potential for better efficiency in local government. We will talk about how central government can help and not hinder.
 
We have ideas on the way in which smarter thinking about money can produce better child outcomes and will also suggest a series of experiments to achieve the same end. We will also consider what would happen if we were to design children’s service from scratch, unencumbered with the historical legacy of existing buildings, staff, laws and procedures.
 
The idea is to sponsor a debate about the opportunities that exist in these straightened times. And to support children’s services organisations looking to turn challenges into opportunities.