Children's services in Doncaster are to be split off from local
authority control and instead run by an independent trust as part of a
radical plan to turn the troubled department around.
authority control and instead run by an independent trust as part of a
radical plan to turn the troubled department around.
The proposals were recommended by an independent review panel as the only way of making a "decisive break" from serious child protection failings at the department dating back to 2009, when it was placed under government supervision.
The panel's report says: "A culture of failure and disillusion pervades the service and that serves to obstruct every attempt at reform. There needs to be a line drawn under the historic failure, a separation that permits the development of a new culture."
Education Secretary Michael Gove signalled his intention to push ahead with the review panel's recommendations in a letter to Doncaster mayor Ros Jones, in which he says: "I agree with the recommendations and will now seek to put them into effect."
