Commentary on Sections General Section 27: Responsibility for functions under sections 25 and 26
143.Subsection (1) of this section requires a local authority in Wales to appoint a lead director for children and young people’s services with responsibility for co-ordinating and over-seeing the arrangements made under sections 25 and 26. This will not affect the existing service delivery responsibilities of the Chief Education Officer and the Director of Social Services. It is anticipated that an existing director, or even the chief executive, will usually be appointed as the ‘lead director’. The lead director will ensure that the partnership planning process is given a high profile within the local authority and acts as a driver for strategic planning for children and young people in the local authority area. At the elected member level his responsibilities will be matched by a ‘lead member for children and young people’s services’. As with the lead director, the lead member may also hold other responsibilities.
144.Subsections (2) and (3) require NHS trusts and Local Health Boards, as the local authorities’ most significant statutory partners in providing services for children and young people, to appoint lead executive and non-executive directors (in the case of an NHS trust) and a lead officer and member (in the case of a Local Health Board) to deal with the arrangements under section 25. As with local authorities, these persons may also hold other responsibilities.
145.Subsection (4) provides for the Assembly to give guidance relating to this section. In practice, it is expected that this guidance will be integrated with that under section 25.