The Royal Borough of Windsor & Maidenhead has reaffirmed its partnership with Achieving for Children (AfC), which delivers the area’s children’s and educational services, praising the good standard of services and value for money it delivers for communities.
AfC is a not-for-profit community interest company, jointly owned by the Royal Borough and Richmond and Kingston councils, which was established to provide education, health, social care and early help services for children, young people and families, including the most vulnerable families.
Across the board, its services have consistently been graded as 'good' in previous independent inspections, with 94 per cent of schools supported by AfC also rated as good or outstanding.
Recently, the Royal Borough’s Cabinet agreed to extend the contract for a further five years from August 2024, with senior representatives from both organisations gathering at the Town Hall this week to symbolically renew the partnership.
Councillor Amy Tisi, Cabinet member for children’s services, education and Windsor, said: “AfC delivers a varied range of services that are so important to communities, helping children to get the best possible start in life, including health visitors for the youngest children, support for schools, local authority care and specialist help for the families who need us most.
“This is a genuine partnership model, which continues to deliver a good standard of service and value for money at a time of particularly tough financial challenges, coupled with rising complexity and levels of need for children, young people and families.
“As we look forward to another five years with AfC, I’d like to say a big thank you to all our dedicated practitioners, who do so much with our partners to invest in supporting our young people’s futures.”
Stephen Evans, CEO of the Royal Borough, said: “AfC has built a strong reputation for delivering good quality services on behalf of three local authorities, including the Royal Borough. All options were considered by the council regarding the future delivery of children’s and educational services in the borough and it was agreed to extend the council’s relationship with AfC. I look forward to continuing to work with colleagues from AfC to provide the best services we can for the children and young people of the borough.”
Lin Ferguson, executive director of children’s services and education at the Royal Borough, said: “AfC staff work in close collaboration with council-employed staff and councillors in the same way that an in-house service provision would, however we also benefit from being part of a wider partnership covering three council areas.
“The contract extension is a clear vote of confidence in AfC and how we work together to deliver for our children, young people and families. Services are recognised as being of a good level of quality across the board, evidenced through internal self-assessment, strong key performance indicators and independent inspections by regulators. However there is more we want to do together, and I am excited about what we will be able to achieve over the next five years.”
Lucy Kourpas, chief operating and finance officer at AfC, said: “We are delighted that our partnership with the Royal Borough will be continuing and remain hugely committed to the wellbeing of the children and young people who live and learn across the borough. We look forward to our continued work with the local authority, schools and other local partners in supporting children and young people to live safe, happy and healthy lives.”