Social care star ratings won a one-year reprieve in February because the Commission for Social Care Inspection (CSCI) feared scrapping the system this year, before integrated inspection of children's services start, would be too disruptive. But behind the star rating, which shows how well a council serves children, there is debate on what exactly should be assessed.
Last week the CSCI agreed new indicators for the 2005/06 performance assessment framework, although ministers will make the final decision on whether they are included (Children Now, 20-26 April).
Creating a perverse incentive
Social care leaders have warned that a new indicator on out-of-authority placements for looked-after children could create a "perverse incentive" to move children from stable placements. Felicity Collier, chief executive of BAAF Adoption & Fostering, says: "A number of looked-after children placed at a distance from home become settled and develop significant attachments."
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