Friday, 13 February 2009

Child Protection Update

Following the Joint Area Review of Children's Services which resulted in the resignation of the lead councillor responsible as well as disciplinary action against staff, it has been announced that an overhaul of the scrutiny system is to be discussed at the next Cabinet session.

Under consideration is an extension of Reading Children’s Trust Board to introduce cross-party evaluation into the policy area for the first time following LibDem proposals to ensure partisan interests no longer override the public interest.

As Cllr Bayes explains, it is important to be able to listen to the voiceless.

However, the task of filling vacant positions with qualified social workers will only get harder with the closure of a local training college, adding a new set of victims to be claimed by the credit crunch.

BBC reports that there could be a "huge increase" in the number of vacancies within social services in Berkshire as a consequence, according to the British Association of Social Workers. BBC South Today also covers the story, highlighting the contention in any move to close the school.

A final decision on the closure of the department (which would be the third in 4 years at the University of Reading) will be made in March.

Oranjepan asks:
fewer qualified professionals fighting to fill more front-line vacancies at a time of rising unemployment won't help raise standards or keep costs down; what is the University thinking?

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For full coverage of the events which have rocked Reading since the death of Child T, go to the Special Report on Children's Services in Reading (see sidebar).

5 comments:

  1. Anonymous15 February 2009 at 14:14

    errr, the constant blame laying and publicity on this issue will note healp recruitment either. Until some of the more shall we say, satitrical and thoughtless councillors get this into their heads, the sooner the Council can start to rebuild its services.

    What is needed is a cross party commitment to improvement and a stop to some of the more outlandish statements. If I was a social worker from elesewhere in the UK I woudn't come here! But of course, some councillors are so self deluded and up their own a**e, that they either don't or won't see the logic of this will they?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Oranjepan15 February 2009 at 21:11

    I'm glad you're taking your own advice and avoiding the blame game, anon...

    So, it's the fault of satirists that bureaucrats fail to do their job, is it?

    Does this mean you're saying that Hanna and Barbera were responsible for starting WW2 by drawing Tom & Jerry in 1940?

    ReplyDelete
  3. Anonymous15 February 2009 at 23:37

    Sigh...I'm simply pointing out that if the constant blaming goes on, then the chances of recruiting any social workers to reading decline - why would anyone want to work in a place where there is (a) a blame / mob culture and (b) no consenus about a remedy (ie all the politicians scoring points off each other)

    And yet somehow I don't think that you 'get it' do you?

    Your comments about Tom and Gerry are simply purile and illustrate my point.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Oranjepan16 February 2009 at 00:04

    I don't think so, anon.

    I think recruitment of social workers will more difficult if there are fewer qualified social workers.

    The morale of staff and the image of the service is a separate issue which is the responsibility of the management and staff of the service themselves. Outside opinion is a product and reflection of the job they do and the circumstances they do it in, not the cause.

    Any complaints of a 'blame culture' completely miss the point that there is anything to complain about in the first place.

    So, while I sympathise that hyper-criticism can exacerbate problems, no change of culture necessarily solves anything alone or immediately - even President Obama has a long road ahead of him.

    I think it is a good point to ask where the line between fair criticism and hyper-criticism is, but your comments indicate you prefer to silence any attempt at constructive help.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Anonymous20 February 2009 at 00:10

    Head of Children's Services in Wokingham resigns according to the Evening Post. What can it mean and what are the implications, if any, for Reading?

    Discuss. Use Extra paper if necessary.

    ReplyDelete

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