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The government's vision for children's services in England and Wales, Every Child Matters (DfES, 2003), emerged from the debate following the report of the inquiry into the death of Victoria Climbié (Laming, 2003). The Children Act 2004 enshrined this vision in legislation, outlining the new statutory duties and clarifying accountabilities for children's services. The Directorate for Children, Young People and Families, located within the Department for Education and Skills (DfES), is the central government body charged with overseeing the implementation of the Every Child Matters reforms.Tom Jeffery is the Director‐General of the Directorate. In this interview, he argues that having a common set of outcomes is helping to make services less patchy and more coherent, and discusses the practical mechanisms being used to encourage local innovation within national guidelines and multiagency working centred around schools. He also reflects on the role of research in these developments and the efforts being made to improve training and career development for children's services practitioners. What follows is an edited transcript of Tom Jeffery's comments.

Ireland has suddenly become a hub of activity around children's services -at central and local government levels, involving the primary statutory and voluntary agencies, and engaging some of the more disadvantaged communities. Following a critical report when it appeared before the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child over a decade ago, the Irish Government set up the National Children's Office and developed a National Children's Strategy. Current developments in children's services designed to address ongoing weaknesses in provision are taking place against the backdrop of the increasing wealth of the state and families and considerable organisational change in local services. The relatively new Office of the Minister for Children (OMC) was established to consolidate these ideas and move them forwards.This article offers the perspective of Sylda Langford, Director-General of the OMC. She outlines relevant aspects of the broader context in Ireland before describing the origins and work of the OMC, the accompanying opportunities and obstacles to progress. She also reflects on life as a civil servant in a cross-cutting Government department, the possible forthcoming referendum in Ireland on the relative rights of parents and children and the challenges presented by collaboration with philanthropy. What follows is an edited transcript of Sylda Langford's comments.

The government's vision for children's services in England and Wales, Every Child Matters (DfES, 2003), and the subsequent Children Act 2004 are ground‐breaking in that they encourage local authorities to focus on child outcomes and demand the integration of previously separate services, such as social care and education. Previous articles in this series were by Herbert Laming (2006), whose inquiry helped pave the way for the 2004 legislation, and Tom Jeffery (2006), the Director‐General of the central government Directorate for Children, Young People and Families. In this article, John Coughlan, one of the new Directors of Children's Services, gives his perspective on implementing the new legislation at local authority level. What follows is an edited transcript of John Coughlan's comments.