Childrens services
‘There can be and will be no complacency’
Joanne Roney says that while addressing past failures is ‘very necessary’, we must not lose sight of ‘how radically our approach to tackling child sexual exploitation has been strengthened’ since Operation Augusta.
An efficient collaboration
Victoria Gould of Warwickshire CC’s award-winning Young People Legal Service team (YPLS) explains how it is working collaboratively with other local authorities to minimise legal costs in times of increasing demand.
A landmark year for Waltham Forest
In 2019 Waltham Forest LBC became the first Mayor of London Borough of Culture - and won The MJ’s Local Authority of the Year category in the annual awards. Cllr Clare Coghill and Martin Esom talk to Michael Burton about the council's achievement.
ONS data will help councils tackle child abuse
The ONS has undertaken the mammoth task of attempting to map child abuse nationally, says Heather Jameson - 'and collating the data will help the sector gain an understanding of where the major problems are and where resources are needed most'.
Government: Commissioner no longer needs to oversee Wakefield children's services
The Government has agreed that a commissioner no longer needs to oversee Wakefield Council’s children’s services.
LGA calls for seat at table in children's care review
The Local Government Association (LGA) is pressing for close involvement in the Government’s pledged children’s social care review.
Ofsted finds children ’still at risk’ in North East Lincolnshire
The council has been warned by the watchdog it is not doing enough to improve children’s services.
Signs of improvement in inadequate children’s services
Two councils subjected to Government intervention due to poor children’s services have received praise from inspectors.
Northamptonshire heading for budget overspend
Officers have forecast a £1.9m budget gap at the end of the financial year due to a failure to realise savings in its children’s services.
We want to work with new Government 'to help deliver on our shared ambitions'
One of Boris Johnson's key priorities must be to publish the provisional Finance Settlement quickly - and the LGA agrees with the Government's position that we need to get away from ‘Whitehall knows best’, says chairman Cllr James Jamieson.
London borough rejects insourcing children’s services
Kingston LBC had considered returning services from a wholly-owned company when their contract ends in 2021.
The importance of an early start
With concerns of underfunding remaining in the childcare sector, the Association of Directors of Children’s Services (ADCS) president Rachel Dickinson outlines what she would like to see from future early years policies.
Repairing a broken system
The voluntary scheme for sharing responsibility for the care of unaccompanied asylum-seeking children is widely seen as failing. What needs to change? Dan Peters reports.
Let's ensure the sector gets heard above the post-election hubbub
To get its voice heard by an incoming government, the sector should unite around the main themes - including funding, national policies for both adults and children's services, place-making, infrastructure and more, says Anthony May.
Level of private equity profits 'turns my stomach' says children's chief
The level of profits made by private equity companies from the care of vulnerable children 'turns my stomach', the president of the Association of Directors of Children's Services (ADCS) has said.
Government departments: ‘adopt a national health and wellbeing board approach’
Poverty and inequality should be understood and tackled as a public health issue, says a new paper from the Association of Directors of Children’s Services. Ann McGauran reports
‘We need to myth-bust here’
As the sector heads to Bournemouth for the National Children and Adult Services (NCAS) conference this week, Ann McGauran talks to Rachel Dickinson about how the country’s young are faring 30 years after the seminal 1989 Children Act.
Lessons learned from two years of the State of Transformation
Benjamin Taylor reviews the landscape of local government transformation over two years of case studies, conferences and academies. The picture that emerges is both a depressing and inspiring one.
A triple-track approach to tackling knife crime
Rebecca Bryant says that effectively tackling the scourge of knife crime calls for a multi-agency approach including early intervention, with local authorities and children and young people’s services having a vital role to play
One door to a brighter future
North Yorkshire is working with other councils to share its No Wrong Door model to address young people’s needs. Stuart Carlton explains the approach, and says that developing NWD in a new place is not a simple process of ‘lift and shift’