Doncaster is a deprived market town in South Yorkshire. It became a metropolitan borough in 1974, incorporating the surrounding areas of Hexthorpe, Hyde Park, Newton, Bentley Rise, Wheatley Park, Intake and Bessacarr.
Like much of the region, it suffered economically with the collapse of the coal industry. Now, nearly a quarter of children in Doncaster live below the poverty line - the fourth highest rate in England.
In 2013, following highly critical Ofsted inspection reports, the Labour-controlled council agreed to then Education Secretary Michael Gove's recommendation to transfer the running of children's social care services to an independent trust. This began operating in October 2014, and an inspection last December rated services "good".
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