Speaking at an event yesterday to mark the start of his presidency, Wood set out his agenda for the year ahead, identifying a list of key issues children’s services leaders will face.
Central to this is the capacity for local authorities to think creatively about how to improve children’s social care, in light of the government-commissioned study to scope out the outsourcing options available to councils with failing services.
Despite concerns in the sector that the study is a step towards privatisation of children’s social care, Wood – who will be part of the study review team – said the principal capacity to improve “is already in local authorities”.
He added: “We’ve got to be creative and thoughtful about solutions where authorities are failing. How can we do that in a way authorities won’t suffer and combine that with the best of the voluntary and commercial sector?”
Where this has already happened in struggling authorities, Wood suggested the overriding concern has been to find an improvement model that best fitted local circumstances.
The running of Doncaster's children's social care service, notably, was transferred to a children’s trust for up to 10 years. “The lesson from Doncaster is there is no point in identifying problems if you can’t identify the solutions also. That has to be the way forward.”
Wood also questioned whether the time was right to look again at the regulations governing the role of director of children’s services (DCS).
“Thirty-five per cent of DCSs now manage departments equally as big as children’s services. Is that what was envisaged at the time the statutory guidance was produced and is that statutory guidance relevant today?”
Wood, a former teacher, impressed the need for local authorities to “move away” from the debate over school structures and focus instead on “advocating for the highest possible quality” of education for all children. “Dogmatic schemes” have blunted councils’ innovation in this area, he said, adding creative thinking was the only way to tackle the growing demand for school places.
One example of this, he said, is for schools to consider dual intakes so that parents have the choice of sending children to school in the morning or afternoon.
He explained: “How about we build a school and say ‘there’s two components: and AM and PM, and if you apply to come to that school you get a choice to come to one or the other’.”
Also speaking at the event was children’s minister Edward Timpson, who backed Wood’s call for more innovation in how children’s services are delivered.
He said: “We need to get to the point where efficient leadership is used to help authorities that are struggling and also those that are striving for excellence.
“We must continue that focused drive on innovation and creativity to help children.”
