Statutory guidance

Directors of children’s services: roles and responsibilities

Statutory guidance for local authorities with responsibility for education and children’s social services functions.

• From: Department for Education
• Published: 8 April 2013

Applies to England

Documents

Director/lead member for children’s services: roles and responsibilities

Ref: DFE-00033-2013

PDF, 252 KB, 16 pages

Details

This guidance is for local authorities in England.

It explains the process for:

• the appointment of the director of children’s services (DCS)
• the designation of the lead member for children’s services (LMCS)

It covers:

• the legal basis for the 2 appointments
• roles and responsibilities of the post holders
• government expectations about the role of local authorities in:
  • education
  • children and young people’s services

Statutory guidance sets out what schools and local authorities must do to comply with the law. You should follow the guidance unless you have a very good reason not to.

This guidance replaces the previous versions, issued in 2005 and 2009.

Published 8 April 2013