Two neighbouring English cities, Birmingham and Coventry,
have child protection services that are deemed to be ‘inadequate’. Both are in
the news today airing their improvement plans.
Coventry is calling a special meeting of councillors to
discuss the situation. http://www.coventrytelegraph.net/news/coventry-news/council-summit-ofsted-report-slams-6878684
Birmingham has had a ‘commissioner’ imposed on it by the
government.
I wonder if these cities are really the ‘bad apples’ that many
people assume they are, or whether they are just symptoms of a wider malaise.
How many other children’s services departments in other British cities are
operating at full stretch? How many social workers struggle daily with
inadequate resources? How prevalent is the toxic blame and shame culture? How
many opportunities for learning are being lost because people are afraid to
talk openly about where and how mistakes happen? How many children are at risk
of re-abuse because services are not meeting their needs?
