'Are we there yet?'
Not quite, according to the recent Audit Commission report into the progress of local councils and their partners in developing children's trusts. However the study did find progress in bringing professionals together, albeit sometimes by navigating around the "centrally-directed approach". Local agreements work better than external direction, it concluded.
The report is at: www.audit-commission.gov.uk/Products/NATIONAL-REPORT/17AEBDA5-657E-4ef7-80BB-92214D4C04FF/AreWeThereYet29Oct08REP.pdf