Cynulliad Cenedlaethol Cymru

This Government expects health, education, social services, children’s and youth services and their partners to work together so that children with complex needs receive child-centred support. We recognise that “complex needs” is a broad term and can include a range of different needs including physical or mental ill health needs, with emotional, behavioural or wellbeing needs, Additional Learning Needs and who are care experienced.

Whatever their needs, children and young people should receive timely, joined-up support organised around them and their families, with services sharing information, planning together and intervening early where possible.

Regional Partnership Boards (RPBs) provide a key mechanism through which health boards, local authorities and wider partners can work together under the partnership arrangements established by Part 9 of the Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Act 2014. Bringing together health, social care, education, housing, third sector and wider services, they provide the regional structure for coordinated planning and response for children with complex needs.

Within the RPB structures, multi-agency children and young people sub-groups enable joint planning, shared decision-making and delivery. They provide the principal vehicle for translating national policy and programmes into regional and local practice.  Some examples of national policies and programmes delivered through these regional arrangements include;

• The NYTH/NEST Framework, which provides a shared whole-system approach to supporting good emotional health and wellbeing for babies, children, young people and families. It supports health, education, social care, youth services and trusted community partners to identify and respond to needs, work across organisational boundaries and connect children and young people with appropriate support.

• The No Wrong Door approach, which is a key delivery priority within the NYTH/NEST framework, aims to ensure that children, young people and families can access coordinated support when needed, without having to navigate complex systems alone or repeatedly telling their story.

• The Neurodivergence Improvement Plan and the developing all-age Neurodivergence Code of Practice aim to strengthen collaboration across health, education, social care and wider partners, with person-centred support being based on strengths and needs rather than diagnosis alone.

• Within education settings, the Whole School Approach to Emotional and Mental Wellbeing reinforces this wider system of support by promoting prevention, earlier intervention and collaboration between education, health and other partners.

• The National Multi-Agency Practice Framework and accompanying guidance promote a co-productive, trauma-informed approach and support a consistent response across organisational boundaries in supporting the needs of the child or young person. For care-experienced children and young people, trauma, loss, neglect,abuse, separation and disrupted attachments can have lasting effects on emotional wellbeing, relationships and development. Appropriate therapeutic support is therefore an important part of recovery from early adversity and achieving positive outcomes.

Together, these regional structures, shared approaches and programmes of delivery are helping services respond more effectively. We recognise that challenges remain, and we will continue to work with partners to strengthen joined-up working and ensure that children, young people and families are listened to and receive support shaped around their needs rather than organisational boundaries.