Speaking at last week's Association of Directors of Children's Services' (ADCS) conference, Paul Ennals said: "In terms of attitude we have passed a tipping point. Everyone is thinking about the principles of Every Child Matters and moving in the same direction."
But although there has been a culture change, he said some people still oppose the reforms and compared them to the people resisting change in the Church of England. "You're still getting those that are opposed to women bishops, but they know that their day is gone," he said.
But Maggie Atkinson, president of the ADCS, said children's services have always worked well together. "It was me as an English teacher in 1985 who spotted one of my children was on the brink of anorexia, and it was me as an English teacher who called in an educational psychologist and the family. So there have always been pockets of that sort of good practice."
