Citizen News
Lancashire councillors accused over response to findings on looked-after children
2:50pm Tuesday 20th December 2011
COUNCIL chiefs have been ‘complacent’ and ‘defensive’ in their response to a critical report on looked-after children in Lancashire, councillors have claimed.
Several senior councillors have accused Coun Susie Charles, the children’s services cabinet member, of wanting to ‘bury’ the explosive ‘Who Cares?’ report, compiled on behalf of Lancashire’s scrutiny committee.
The full report has still not been fully published, but a draft version, detailing many of the key findings, was released earlier this year.
Chief among the accusations is that the county council has tried to ‘wash its hands’ of areas of concern by insisting it does not have statutory resp-onsibility for them.
But the county’s scrutiny committee has insisted that perceived concerns about the ineffectiveness of Ofsted in monitoring care homes, and the lack of information being shared about looked-after children being transferred across the North West, need addressing urgently.
Coun Bill Winlow said Coun Charles’ official response to the report was ‘very defensive’, and questioned why the full report had not yet been published.
Coun Janice Hanson said: “I was extremely upset, as were other members, when we read about these children, and the way that they were treated, running away from home.
“It is just horrendous to me and your report looks to me like you want to bury this.”
But Coun Charles denied she wanted to ‘bury’ the report, and said that the recommendations had been given careful consideration, in consultation with officers.
“I did say that we would take some of the recommendations forward to government to reinforce,” she added.
County council officials have questioned the panel’s figures for reported ‘missing from home’ cases. But it is understood they have failed to provide alternative statistics.