Legal experts from Bristol-headquartered UK law firm Burges Salmon have helped the Department for Education create the country’s first independent not-for-profit company focused entirely on improving social care services for children, young people and their families.
The Doncaster Children’s Services Trust was created following sharp criticism a year ago by the then-Education Secretary Michael Gove of the Doncaster Council’s record on child protection. 
The Yorkshire town had become a byword for failure in children’s social care and Mr Gove issued a direction forcing Doncaster Council to enter into a contract with the trust, giving it the power to run the service on a day-to-day basis outside the direct town hall control.
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 the council and the associated transfer of around 450 employees and establishing their pension arrangements.
Burges Salmon was instructed at the end of December and immediately started work to meet the agreed timescale for the trust to operate in shadow form from April 1 and be fully operational by September 30.
Burges Salmon commercial team partner Matthew Ramus said: “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.”
