Children’s outcomes ‘compromised’ as commissioners focus on balancing budgets
Commissioning teams often feel conflicted when trying to balance their annual budgets or meet long-term goals for children, the Children’s Services Taskforce has found.
Published this week, Collaborating for better outcomes: the final report from the Children’s Services Taskforce, revealed that longer-term strategies in children’s services are often compromised by the need to balance budgets.
It stated: [...]
Crown Prosecution Service chief attacks 'witch hunts' against social workers
Sir Keir Starmer has attacked the national culture of ‘witch hunting’ that follows child protection tragedies and is, he warned, harming social work.
Speaking to a packed crowd of social workers at Community Care Live, the former head of the Crown Prosecution Service criticised the national culture that blames public servants for child protection tragedies, allowing [...]
Legal aid cuts "not thought through"
The Ministry of Justice is on track to meet its main objective of significantly reducing in a short timeframe spending on civil legal aid. However, it is less clear to what extent it has met its other objectives of reducing unnecessary litigation and targeting legal aid at those who need it most, according to today’s [...]
Initial contacts to children’s services up 65%
Local authorities are approaching ‘the limits of their capacity’ as child safeguarding pressures continue to rise, directors of children’s services have warned.
Figures published this week by the Association of Directors of Children’s Services (ADCS) show pressure on already-stretched child safeguarding services [...]
High Court judge blasts lack of judicial resources to meet care proceedings timings
A High Court judge refused to embark on a final hearing in a complex child care case because of lack of time and the absence of any slack in the family court system to allow for an early hearing, it has emerged.
The proceedings concerned a care order in relation to a two-year-old child, who is [...]
Government publishes guide to bust adoption law myths
Children are missing out on the chance to be adopted because social workers have over-reacted to a number of recent court judgements, Sir Martin Narey has warned.
The warning came as the adoption adviser published a ‘myth-busting’ guide to clarify the rulings and reassure social workers that the law has not changed.
Narey, who chairs the [...]
