Children’s and adult’s social services deal with people at very different ends of the social spectrum. Until recently, each was managed separately, usually under the banner of education or social services.

Then, in 2004, the Children Act set a requirement for councils to appoint a director to oversee all children’s services by April 2008. At the same time the Department of Health set a requirement for councils to appoint a named director of adult social services.

While most councils created two separate posts with separate departments, replacing the former education and social services departments, about 10 per cent of councils decided to create a combined department, headed by one director who would oversee both children’s and adults’ services.

A recent report published by the Improvement & Development Agency (IDeA), part of the Local Government Association, looked at how the combined model is working, the pros and cons of the approach, and with four joint directorates introduced this year, whether the trend is set to grow.

Councils introducing the combined model had done so to provide more integrated services, to save on administration costs and to focus on supporting families as a whole. John Dixon, executive director for adults and children at West Sussex, said: “There’s a lot of synergy on infrastructure and shared services support, and it didn’t make much sense to have them separated.”

Across the board, children take up the most time. Where services were combined, directors tended to spend far more time on the children’s side, with one reporting the split to be about 70:30. Where directors had responsibility only for adults, they tended to be given other responsibilities as well, such as housing, culture, sport or health.

The combined departments performed highly. For adult services, four received the top rating of three stars and most were rated excellent or good for children’s services. Combined directorates were also able to bring together other services targeting children and adults, including those for disabled or older people, mental health, education and safeguarding children and their families. In some cases, this resulted in an extremely large department, with one accounting for about 75 per cent of the council’s annual budget.

Directors said the joint approach had succeeded in transferring the focus on to families rather than individuals, and in reducing bureaucracy. Bringing the services together had made it easier to address national targets that cut across services and age groups, such as reducing health inequalities. Rose Collinson, the director for children and adults at Medway Council, said: “If you can cut through some of the different language then you can make the linkages across services.”

However, there were downsides to the approach. The scale and complexity of the larger departments raised concerns, and risked a lack of visibility, the IDeA reported. Directors in charge of joint services said the dual role was challenging. Many acknowledged that it would not be appropriate for all councils.

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