An east London local authority has drafted in the charity Coram to vethow it safeguards children in a pioneering move that could be replicatednationally after Lord Laming slammed child protection services lastweek.
Waltham Forest Council has awarded Coram a three-year contract toscrutinise all decisions by social workers to take children into care.The aim is to check whether the decision is in the child's bestinterests.
At its last inspection, the council was rated "good" for safeguardingchildren. It says the move will help it to implement the controversialPublic Law Outline, which aims to cut delays in the time it takes to putchildren into care.
Last week, Justice Secretary Jack Straw appointed lawyer Francis Plowdento lead a review into court fees in public law cases brought under theChildren Act 1989. The government has pledged to abolish court fees ifthey are found to be a barrier to taking children into care. The movefollows Lord Laming's report, The Protection of Children in England,which branded the delay in such cases as "unacceptable".
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