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Editorial: You have to be inside the tent to influence decisions

    News
  • Monday, March 31, 2014
  • | CYP Now
The decision by children's minister Edward Timpson to commission what amounts to a feasibility study into the widespread outsourcing of struggling children's services represents the thin end of the wedge (news roundup, p5). While the study is linked directly to the future of children's social care in Birmingham, the fact it has one eye on developing alternative delivery models that can be applied elsewhere means the government is determined to make it easier for councils to outsource services if they are deemed to be failing.

Labour must produce a clear vision for children

    Other
  • Tuesday, March 18, 2014
  • | CYP Now
After a slow start, Labour seems to be finding its feet in opposition. But with a general election a little over a year away, time is running out for the party to produce a coherent policy vision for children, young people and families.

New Ofsted inspections must show consistency

    Other
  • Tuesday, March 4, 2014
  • | CYP Now
Inspection is a tough brief. Just like a football referee, an Ofsted inspector will rarely please everyone: one minute you are being accused by politicians and the public of being too soft and failing to spot bad practice, while the next, those you regulate will be hopping up and down over a perceived injustice in judgment.

New Ofsted inspections must show consistency

    Other
  • Tuesday, March 4, 2014
  • | CYP Now
Inspection is a tough brief. Just like a football referee, an Ofsted inspector will rarely please everyone: one minute you are being accused by politicians and the public of being too soft and failing to spot bad practice, while the next, those you regulate will be hopping up and down over a perceived injustice in judgment.

Creative thinking is vital for children's centres to survive

    Other
  • Tuesday, January 21, 2014
  • | CYP Now
Barely a week goes by without another council announcing plans to downsize its network of children's centres. From Kent to Bradford, Northants to Nottinghamshire, children's centres, like most other local authority services in England, are being squeezed in the face of unrelenting funding cuts.

Councils need the means to deliver foster care support

    Other
  • Tuesday, December 17, 2013
  • | CYP Now
A little over two months ago, the Fostering Network called on the government to do the right thing - both morally and economically - by extending financial support to foster carers and in doing so enable children they care for to stay in the placement past their 18th birthday and up to 21 if they so wish.

Youth work must tap into education policy spine

    Other
  • Tuesday, November 12, 2013
  • | CYP Now
The admission by minister for civil society Nick Hurd that he is still unsure where council-led youth work fits into the government's future vision for the sector is not the most surprising of revelations.

Blame games make the job of a DCS untenable

    Opinion
  • Tuesday, October 15, 2013
  • | CYP Now
Last Friday, the Reading Post published a story about how children's services in the town received only one application for each of the three senior social worker jobs it advertised. On the same day, the Coventry Telegraph reported that 30 demonstrators had gathered outside the city's town hall calling for more action to be taken against the agencies involved in the Daniel Pelka case.

Children's services need clarity of accountability

    Other
  • Tuesday, August 20, 2013
  • | CYP Now
The government's proposals to transfer responsibility for children's social services in Doncaster from the local council to an independent trust have come under attack from Doncaster Mayor Ros Jones in her detailed response to the plans.

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