Sebastian Payne

Nicky Morgan: children’s services need to find ‘different ways of working’

Children’s services in local government will be taken over if they are deemed to be failing by Ofsted, David Cameron is announcing today. In an effort to avoid child abuse cases such as those in Rochdale and Rotherham, the government will carry out about more emergency inspections and services which fail to improve within six months will be taken over by higher performing local authorities. The Prime Minister says:

‘Children’s services support the most vulnerable children in our society. They are in our care; we, the state, are their parents; and we are failing them. It is our duty to put this right; to say poorly performing local authorities: improve, or be taken over. We will not stand by while children are let down by inadequate social services’.

As well as the new ‘academy style system’ for monitoring children’s services, the government is pumping £100 million into enticing graduates into social work.

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