Daily roundup: 'Conflicts of interest' at the DfE; child poverty measurements, and safeguarding in Medway

The committee overseeing cuts at the Department of Education will include a representative from a global management consulting firm and two Conservative party donors, the Guardian reports. Documents seen by the newspaper reveal Education Secretary Michael Gove has invited Paul Rogers, a managing partner at US firm Bain & Company, to join the committee. He will not be paid, but a DfE spokesman said his company would be able to apply for future contracts at the department. Shadow children’s minister Lisa Nandy said the move poses a serious potential conflict of interest: “If the company bids for contracts that are outsourced on its recommendation, it risks creating an impression of decisions made on the basis of financial gain, not interests of children.”

Plans to introduce a multi-dimensional measure of child poverty have been criticised by the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS). In its response to the government’s child poverty consultation, the IFS said combining multiple indicators into a single index of child poverty would result in information that was “difficult or impossible to interpret”. A group of academics has also written a letter to the Guardian calling on the government to reconsider the proposals. They said a single measure “would open up the government to the accusation that it aims to dilute the importance of income in monitoring the extent of poverty”. The consultation on the new measure closes today.

Medway council's child protection services have been judged “inadequate” by Ofsted. An unannounced inspection found that social workers were struggling to deal with high caseloads and systems that did not support effective practice. Les Wicks, lead member for children services, has apologised to people living in the area. He said a new director of children’s services was appointed in September to drive change, and improvements have been made. He said: “We still have much to do, but are committed to working with our partners to protect children at risk in Medway.”

More than 100 staff will be made redundant when the charity Action for Children closes a residential special school. The Cotswold Journal reports that the decision was taken following a consultation with families of children at the school, and the local community. The school currently supports 13 children with profound disabilities, but needs 24 full-time residents to make it viable. It is scheduled to close in May. Barbara Street, operational director of children’s services at Action for Children, said: “We fully understand that many people will be saddened by this decision, but despite our best efforts the school has become unsustainable.”