Hackney Council's Cabinet Procurement and Insourcing Committee has agreed to bring the Family Group Conferencing (FGC) service back in-house, creating a new Family Led Decision Making (FLDM) Team within the Family Help Service. The decision, made at a meeting on Wednesday 15 July 2026, means the FGC service will be insourced from 1 October 2026, following the end of the current contract with an external provider on 30 September 2026.
This move is intended to meet new requirements under the Family First Partnership Programme and the Children's Wellbeing and Schools Act 2026. Specifically, the Family First Partnership Programme requires authorities to explore using Family Led Decision Making (FLDM) throughout Family Help and Corporate Parenting. Furthermore, the Children's Wellbeing and Schools Act 2026 has placed the requirement to offer all families an FLDM meeting when a court application for a care or supervision order is being considered on a statutory footing. Insourcing is expected to increase family choice, enhance capacity for different types of FLDM meetings, improve feedback mechanisms, and ensure stronger financial controls over Family Network Support Packages (FNSPs).
The committee considered alternative options, including retendering the current FLDM service and doing nothing. Retendering was rejected due to a small market of FLDM providers in London, none of whom are currently based within Hackney. The 'do nothing' option was rejected as it would mean Hackney would be unable to meet its statutory obligations to offer FLDM as part of pre-proceedings.
The insourced service will cost £320,346 per annum. Of this, £161,520 is from the core Council budget (repurposed contract budget and business support posts), and the remaining £158,826 is funded from the Family First Partnership Programme Grant, which is currently confirmed to 31st March 2028. The Family Group Meeting Facilitator posts are part-funded by this grant and are fixed term until 31st March 2028. While no direct savings have been identified, the expansion of FLDM and improved quality is intended to reduce the escalation of family needs, potentially leading to better outcomes and lower costs in the long term.
The new team will consist of 5.2 full-time equivalent posts, including a Senior Family Group Meeting Facilitator, Family Group Meeting Facilitators, and a Business Support Officer. The insourcing of the FGC service, which includes the creation of these posts, is planned to commence on 1 October 2026. A mobilisation period has been built in to ensure time for recruitment to internal posts, including an overlap period between the current contract and the 'go live' date of in-house provision.
Key performance indicators (KPIs) for the new FLDM Team include an improvement in the conversion rate of referrals into Family meetings being held, an increase in the number of family meetings that result in agreed plans, and an increase in the overall number of Family Meetings held, especially at points other than pre-proceedings. The service will aim for a 70% conversion rate of referrals into meetings being held, with 90% of meetings targeted to be held within 8 weeks of an offer being accepted. The number of Family Network Support Packages (FNSPs) distributed to families will also be monitored, with an aim to increase from the current baseline of 0. These KPIs will be monitored quarterly.
Anticipated challenges in establishing and operating the in-house FLDM service include potential delays in recruitment, the perception of in-house provision as not independent by families, low referral rates leading to unused capacity, and ensuring sufficient staff with the necessary skills. Mitigation strategies include a built-in mobilisation period for recruitment, separating line management of the FLDM team from Family Help practitioner teams to ensure independence, a programme of training to promote the new offer and improve referral quality, and benchmarking with other local authorities that have insourced FLDM teams to understand required capabilities. As part of the Family First Partnership Programme, the provider Relational Activism has been commissioned to support the development of FLDM, including training for staff.
The contract with the current external provider for the FGC service will end on 30 September 2026. Consultation has been held with the provider to understand the TUPE implications of insourcing the service. An initial assessment suggests that TUPE would not apply to any members of staff due to them only spending a small portion of their time on the Hackney contract. Hackney legal has reviewed the information provided by the provider and confirmed that TUPE does not appear to apply based on this information.
This decision aligns with Hackney's Sustainable Procurement and Insourcing Strategy, aiming to improve service quality and create local jobs. The new team will also record data on the Mosaic Case Management system, with performance dashboards created for statutory reporting. The insourcing also aims to meet new requirements to offer Family Network Support Packages (FNSPs) as part of the FLDM offer.
