Amid fierce debate over the merits of government plans to allow local authorities to apply for exemptions from social care legislation, it emerged earlier this month that two councils granted freedoms from statutory guidance in recent years subsequently had their children's services rated "inadequate" by Ofsted.
Temporary suspensions from statutory Working Together to Safeguard Children guidance were granted to selected councils by then Education Secretary Michael Gove following recommendations in Professor Eileen Munro's 2011 review of the child protection system, which concluded that bureaucracy was preventing social workers from doing their jobs (see below).
In the period since the freedoms were granted, it has been a mixed picture for the councils involved - standards improved at four, stayed the same at six and worsened at two (see box).
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