A children's trust is to be established in the borough of Stockton in response to the Children's Bill and Government Green Paper Every Child Matters.

The move is one of the key outcomes of a review of services, led by Stockton Borough Council, to meet the government's agenda for children.

It follows a recent conference between various service providers and representatives from schools, the Council and the Primary Care Trust to consider how they could organise existing services to best meet the needs of children, their families and the broader community.

The new Children's Trust will integrate local education, social care and some health services for children. Other organisations, such as the police, voluntary groups, the Youth Offending Team, Connexions and various other Council services will also be able to become involved.

Ann Baxter, the council's corporate director of children, education and social care, said: "This will be the key to ensuring local children can enjoy a healthy and safe lifestyle, achieve their ambitions and make a positive contribution to their local community.

"The creation of a Children's Trust brings an exciting opportunity to achieve a single focus for delivering services for all the Borough's young people and I believe it heralds a brighter future, both for them and for the services they need."

One way forward will be through extended schools. This involves clusters of schools working together to offer local people access to services such as a community nurse, local police officer, welfare benefits advice, support for employment, adult education, childcare facilities, family learning, homework and study support.

The idea is already being successfully piloted in Billingham and soon every local school will have the opportunity to be part of an extended school cluster.

Other suitable clusters of schools will now be identified and will work with providers to meet their neighbourhood's needs by delivering services locally. Consultation with children, young people, their families, carers and local communities will help shape these services.