Every Child Matters

It is not right to let a one-sided attack on the Council go without comment, especially where it is about services to the most vulnerable children in our communities. In the article “MP: Council is failing our children” (30th. May), there is no admission of the role that Government has played in denuding local authorities of resources and status over many years, nor, surprisingly – but, maybe not – are there any proposals for solutions, other than to use the issue as a political football. As a former Director of Social Services myself, and, latterly in my career, as a Safeguarding Conference Chair, I am only too aware of the immense challenges in getting things right for children in care, and those leaving care. I’m sure that, as with many local authorities, not everything has gone well with Cheshire East’s services for these children; clearly it hasn’t, even though the report refers to some important improvements. However, not to reflect, at all, on the fact that this Conservative Government has given such low political priority to the needs of vulnerable children, is being disingenuous, at best. The Minister for Children is at the lowest rank of ministerial appointments. The major, national Inquiry into Safeguarding has been largely ignored. The children’s services sector has been allowed to be dominated by owners driven my money, not care; it has become an attractive ‘cash-cow’ for the already-wealthy. Under this Government, the budget plans they have announced would reduce, even further, the financial allocations to local authorities, when many of them are facing, or have faced, effective bankruptcy. Let’s have a mature, cross-Party debate about how to put all this right, not head-line grabbing sound-bites.