Brennan comes to Balls’ aid

To present the government side in the Shoesmith case, former minister Kevin Brennan MP has written an extensive defence of Ed Balls’ decision to sack Sharon Shoesmith. Brennan’s argument is predicated on Ofsted’s report. Brennan writes:

‘Faced with such a report, the Secretary of State had to act decisively. Anyone who doubts for a moment the decision Ed Balls took should look again at that report and its implications for the leadership of child protection in that borough.’

Shoesmith has cast doubt on Ofsted’s report, asserting that its authors had been leant on after they had conducted their research and found her department to be under pressure but in good order. The appeal to the Supreme Court will clearly have to test the independence of Ofsted’s report.