Title

UNIONS

Council considers job cuts to fund children's services

Stoke-on-Trent City Council is considering cutting 248 jobs to help fund a £5.5m cash boost for children’s services.

Stoke-on-Trent City Council is considering cutting 248 jobs to help fund a £5.5m cash boost for children's services.

The proposals, which follow an inadequate rating from Ofsted earlier this year, have been designed to help the council meet the ‘unprecedented' demand for children's social care services.

Stoke-on-Trent is also considering controls on all non-essential spending, the transformation of services, identifying new revenue streams and reviewing contracts.

Council leader Abi Brown, said: ‘The recent Ofsted inspection highlighted the urgent need to make children's services and protecting our vulnerable young people our number one priority. 

‘As a cabinet, we are committed to ensuring that improvement and investment in children's services go hand in hand, and these mid-year proposals will allow us to redirect necessary funding so that we can make this happen.'

In March, Ofsted warned children in the city faced ‘serious and widespread' delays in having their needs met and vulnerable children were not being safeguarded.

UNIONS

Children's services: Navigating the challenge of LGR

By Emmet Regan | 27 May 2026

Emmet Regan says that as the next stages of local government reorganisation get underway, the road ahead will not be easy. But with the right leadership, vi...

UNIONS

Fair Funding: Have rural councils in England really lost out?

By Gabriel Stewart | 26 May 2026

When it comes to spending power, urban councils will soar ahead of rural councils by 2028-29, according to LGA figures. But exclusive Institute for Fiscal St...

UNIONS

Mapping the road ahead

By Chris Cooke | 26 May 2026

Mayor of Middlesbrough Chris Cooke says that at a time of political change, SIGOMA’s role as a consistent, evidence led voice for local government is more cr...

UNIONS

Regional Care Co-operatives to be expanded

By Martin Ford | 26 May 2026

Regional Care Co-operatives are to be bolstered as part of an ‘implementation plan’ for children’s social care reforms.

Popular articles by William Eichler