Children

Social care inspection: setting the record straight

2 December 2011 | John Goldup

Far from disregarding the expertise of social care professionals, Ofsted has it locked into its current programme of inspection and has won the respect of children’s services staff Read more

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Social care inspectors have lost respect

23 November 2011 | Ray Jones

A series of scandals have exposed a lack of understanding of social care in the ranks of both Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission. The watchdogs need to learn from the wisdom of those delivering the service Read more

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Finding funds for a better future

25 May 2011 | Graham Allen

The chair of the Early Intervention Review calls for more investment to help children flourish in later life. He discusses some options – such as bonds, Isas and extended prudential borrowing – ahead of a report for the prime minister Read more

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What not to cut, by Ray Jones

9 December 2010 | Ray Jones

This is not an easy time for local councillors.  As has happened before, the government is passing to local authorities the pain of deciding where cuts should be made, and closing off the escape route of allowing them the alternative of raising more income through local taxation. It is all the more galling when government ministers trumpet localism, which at this time largely means devolving responsibility without opportunity. Read more...

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When Gove met Goldie, by Melissa Benn

16 February 2010 | Melissa Benn

It’s been another frantic week of debate on the future of our education. Private school head and Blair biographer Anthony Seldon has argued that our children are not learning to think independently. The writer Toby Young continues to attract enormous publicity for the ‘comprehensive grammar’ that he and a group of parents are planning to start up in West London, while opposition spokesman Michael Gove has been holding talks with the actress Goldie Hawn. Read more...

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The biter bit, by Mike Thatcher

26 November 2009 | Mike Thatcher

Christine Gilbert had a glimpse this week of what it’s like to be berated for poor performance and to have your apparent failings dissected by what were once known as Fleet Street’s finest. Read more...

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Shooting the messenger, by Conor Ryan

24 November 2009 | Conor Ryan

Today’s Ofsted annual report has both good and bad news. There has been a substantial increase in the number of ‘good’ and ‘outstanding’ schools – the equivalent of 1800 extra good schools in three years – but there remains a stubborn group where teaching is poor. Read more...

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Childcare lessons, by the Institute for Fiscal Studies

30 September 2009 | Institute for Fiscal Studies

Gordon Brown’s speech to the Labour party conference gave more detail about an existing ambition of this government to provide free early education and childcare places for 2-year-old children in England. Read more...

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If it ain’t broke… By Kate Green

24 September 2009 | Kate Green

…don’t means test it. Proposals to end universal entitlements, such as child benefit, should be resisted by the government Read more...

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Damned if they don’t, by Richard Jones

18 September 2009 | Richard Jones

Sir Roger Singleton’s comparatively new Independent Safeguarding Authority has learned the hard way, during the past few weeks, that apart from walking barefoot through broken glass, there is nothing more potentially painful for a public body to do than burst into the heated, and very often overheated, world of protecting people from abuse. His has been the dilemma faced by social workers since the dawn of the  profession: deciding what is an acceptable risk to take within a liberal society. Read more

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