Burges Salmon has advised the Department for Education on the creation of the Doncaster Children’s Services Trust.
The Trust launched on 30 September 2014 and is the first of its kind - an independent not-for-profit company focused entirely on improving social care services for the children, young people and their families of Doncaster.
The Trust was created following a statutory Direction issued by the Secretary of State for Education and the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government - the Direction requires Doncaster Metropolitan Borough Council to enter into a contract with the Trust for children’s social care services.
The Burges Salmon team provided legal advice to the Department for Education and the Trust on all aspects of the programme, including setting up the Trust, the services contract in place with Doncaster Metropolitan Borough Council and the associated transfer of c.450 employees and establishing their pension arrangements.
Burges Salmon was initially instructed at the end of December 2013 and started work straight away to meet the agreed timescale for the Trust to operate in shadow form from 1 April 2014 and to be fully operational by 30 September 2014.
Burges Salmon Commercial team partner Matthew Ramus said: “We are delighted to have assisted the Department for Education and the Trust on this critical project. We were able to put the right team in place from the outset, which ensured that all agreed timelines were met along with the specific needs of our clients.”