Impact of the SIF will be felt for many years

At the time, directors of children's services (DCS) may have raised their eyebrows at her claim. In the first two years of the SIF, 14 councils were rated "inadequate" and none "outstanding", while 78 per cent of councils in 2015 were rated in the lowest two inspection categories (see Analysis).

There was a feeling among DCSs that the SIF had raised the bar too high and was failing to take account of steep rises in demand for social care services and real-terms cuts to council budgets. Now that all 152 councils have undergone the inspection process, Schooling has been proved right. The proportion of children's services departments rated at least "good" has risen from 22 per cent in 2015 to 33 per cent in 2016, and 56 per cent last year. However, the first two years of the SIF were instrumental in creating the overall perception among policy makers that children's services were sub-standard. This laid the foundations for the fundamental changes that have subsequently happened.