Childrens services
Ofsted: More to do to improve Birmingham's children's services
Birmingham City Council has ‘further work’ to do to improve its children’s services, an Ofsted monitoring visit has found.
More councils needed for Dubs scheme
More local authorities need to participate in the Dubs scheme, the minister for immigration Brandon Lewis has urged.
Councils liable for foster care abuse
Local authorities can be held liable for abuse committed by foster carers even if the authority is not itself at fault, the Supreme Court has said in a milestone ruling.
£20m for sector-led kids’ services
The Department for Education (DfE) has signalled a major policy shift with a £20m investment for a new programme of sector-led improvement for children’s services.
No council tax for care leavers
A charity has backed the Scottish Government’s decision to exempt care leavers from council tax.
Council chiefs ‘must be sector leaders’
The Association of Directors of Children’s Services’ (ADCS) president has insisted serving council chiefs should continue to perform such roles.
Powys' children's services under fire
Powys CC’s chief executive has been told to immediately provide strong support to the council’s children’s services.
Refuges 'not always right solution'
A top children’s services director has suggested refuges are ‘not always the right solution’ after research found a dramatic fall in spending by English councils.
Rochdale denies failing children in care
Rochdale MBC has denied that it has failed to protect children in care from being trafficked after being castigated in the national press today.
Government backs sector-led improvement for children's services
The Department for Education (DfE) has signalled a major policy shift with a £20m investment for a new programme of sector-led improvement for children’s services.
Worcestershire's children’s services showing ‘tangible’ signs of progress, inspectors say
Worcestershire CC's children’s services are showing ‘tangible’ signs of improvement but require ‘further progress’, inspectors say.
To the power of four
As part of the second installment of children's services essays collated by iMPOWER, Mark Rogers argues quality services stem from a quartet of officer and political leadership at local and national level, and calls for the sector to commission a long-term partner, or partners, to drive improvement.
Children in care figures hits record high
Some 90 children a day entered care last year, meaning a record number of youngsters are now in the care system, councils have revealed today.
Narey: Foster carers should be paid better
Foster carers should be ‘treated as professionals and properly remunerated,’ the leader of a government-commissioned sector stocktake has said.
Knowing me, knowing NCAS
At this time of year, Diary’s inbox is flooded with mostly dull press releases urging people to attend this conference event or that.
A critical time for children’s services
Alison Michalska explains the urgent need for government action and national attention on the state of children’s services, while Jenny Coles calls for a national strategy to end child poverty, and Ian Thomas puts forward the case for government investment in the Autumn Budget.
Whitehall and authorities clash over review on deprivation
The Government and the sector could be on a collision course over the approach the fair funding review takes towards deprivation.
Knowsley chief wins praise for turning around kids’ services
The independent chair of Knowsley MBC’s children’s services improvement board has praised the council’s chief executive for the turnaround achieved since an inadequate Ofsted rating.
Sector’s ethnicity under government scrutiny
Councils have been warned they must ‘explain or change’ their record on ethnicity despite fresh data highlighting the sector’s strong performance in recruitment.
Kids’ services costs are creating ‘unsustainable overspends’
London Councils has told the Government that rising children’s services pressures are forcing councils to overspend to an unsustainable degree.