In 2019, Regional Improvement and Innovation Alliances (RIIA) were established to formalise an approach to sector-led improvement in children’s services. RIIAs draw together local authority chief executives, lead members for children’s services, directors of children’s services, and other senior leaders of children’s services, to challenge and support each other collectively to be ambitious for all children, young people and families. These arrangements are built on the understanding that there is considerable expertise, knowledge and skills across the whole sector; that everyone has something to give and to learn.
Through our North East RIIA arrangements, the twelve local authorities in the region have committed to working together in a number of practical ways including sharing data with one another to enable benchmarking, sharing knowledge and learning, taking part in self-assessment and peer challenge activity and working together to identify shared priorities which inform a regional improvement plan.