Why it is wrong to combine child & adult service
27 May 2011 by Paul RhoadesIt's very concerning to learn of the plans by the Tory administration at North Lincolnshire Council to combine the rolls of both Children's and Adult Services together in to just one department.
This decision goes against the latest philosophy in social care, and flies in the face of advice given to the government in the recently commissioned "Munro" report.
A summary of which can be seen here:
Following the council’s annual general meeting the Conservatives have chosen their new Cabinet members and positions and have opted to merge the children and adult services departments and they will be overseen by one councillor, Rob Waltham, rather than two.
Adult services has a £37.88-million budget and children’s services has a £26.55-million budget. The council has a total budget of £134.44-million. This means that just one councillor will have control of a £65-million budget – almost half of North Lincolnshire Council’s total revenue spend.
Prof Munro, the author of the Munro report, has called on the government to protect the role of the director of children’s services and criticised moves by some councils to either split children’s services from education or to combine children and adult’s services.
In her report Professor Munro states “The review questions whether such structures would allow sufficient focus and attention to be paid to the most vulnerable children,”
“The importance, as envisaged in the Children Act 2004, of appointing individuals to positions where they have specific responsibilities for children’s services should not be undermined. The Government should amend the statutory guidance issued in relation to such roles and establish the principle that, given the importance of individuals in senior positions being responsible for children’s services, it should not be considered appropriate to give additional functions (that do not relate to children’s services) to Directors of Children’s Services and Lead Members for Children’s Services unless exceptional circumstances arise.”
In a statement provided by the labour group, Cllr Gosling (Shadow cabinet member) says: “The two directorates are simply too big for one person to manage. We are talking about half of the council’s budget run by one individual. The Munro Report clearly states children’s services should not be merged with anything else and that doing so could lead to a lack of attention being paid to some of the most vulnerable people in North Lincolnshire. This is not about politics, this is about the safety and welfare of the children and young people of North Lincolnshire."
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