What we do and how we do it
The Business Development Group (BDG) is primarily responsible for leading Directorate activity in relation to one of the council’s strategic priorities: building capacity through performance management.

The BDG also undertakes strategic project work as required, and provides support for the Directorate’s Management Team (DMT) and Somerset Ccounty Council’s Executive Board Portfolio Holders for Children’s Strategic Services and Education.

The performance management function
This includes:

• Assessment, monitoring and review of Children and Young People’s Services, including the Needs Analysis for the Children and Young People’s Plan (CYPP)
• Collation, analysis and presentation of a wide range of management information, performance indicators and other statistics.
• Promoting data quality
• Monitoring of CYPP and related actions and targets, including the Local Area Agreement
• Completion of Statutory returns for Education, Social Care, YOT
• Strategic Service Planning and Development
• Providing and improving access to Children’s Services in Somerset
• Preparation for Inspections

Support in the democratic process to officers, Headteachers and County Councillors
This includes:

• a management and support team for the Directorate’s Management Team (DMT);
• responsibility for communication and marketing, including promotion of Directorate activities;
• arranging/coordinating the Children and Young People’s Directorate’s input to the County Council’s Executive Board, the Scrutiny Committee and its Sub-Committees (in particular the Scrutiny Children and Young People’s Sub-Committee and the Somerset Children and Young People’s Partnership Scrutiny Panel);

The group also services:

• Somerset Education Policy Team (SEPT) – which includes the Director and Heads of Service for Children and Young People, and representatives of the executives of the County’s Headteachers’ Associations (i.e. SASH, SAPHTO and SAHSP);
• The Somerset Standing Council on Religious Education (SACRE):a statutory body;
• The Somerset Children and Young People’s Partnership Board: a statutory body encompassing the functions of a Children’s Trust.

Local Office Management and Customer access services

• Managing local accommodation issues including projects for new offices, moves, accommodating new posts and Health and Safety issues.
• Managing local telephony services
• Procurement of stationery, equipment and office services
• Managing local public access for customers by telephone and in person including health and safety and equality.

• Reshaping The Directorate Project – supporting in the continued development of the Children and Young People’s Directorate with a view to providing local area based services.
• Development of the client function to work with the JVCo.
• Follow-up and action planning as a result of the Joint Area Review (JAR).
• Improving Services in Somerset (ISiS).
• Leading on a review of the school parental complaints procedure.
• Implementation of Performance Plus (the Corporate Performance Management System)
• Business Process Re-engineering.
• Customer Access.

4 ‘C’ Values - Working together to achieve the outcomes:
Customer Focus, Collaboration, Care and Respect, Can do attitude

Priorities for 2007/08

• Re-structure the group to ensure that it will be able to meet the business and management needs of the Children and Young People’s Directorate.
• Create a single Performance and Management Information team for the Directorate.
• Provide project management capacity to support the directorate.
• Further develop a programme and skills base to review, modernise and improve business processes in the directorate through business process re-engineering.
• Produce the JAR action statement and ensure it is implemented
• Deliver an improved Marketing and Communication co-ordination service for the directorate including the production of a directorate communication strategy and marketing plan to improve Communications
• Complete the establishment of Locality Team bases.