A cash-strapped county voted last week to proceed with early-help staffing cuts after they were called in by a scrutiny panel. Somerset council, which in July warned it could face effective bankruptcy if its financial position did not improve by October, decided in September to reduce staffing in its level 2 and 3 ‘GetSet’ family support teams by 75% and 40% respectively. At the time of the warning its projected children’s services overspend, due to placement and agency staffing costs, was £15 million; the most recent published update said this was on an “upward trend”. The Conservative-run authority has faced intense scrutiny as speculation mounts over which council will be next to follow Northamptonshire in issuing a ‘section 114’ notice, signalling an inability to balance its budget. But its dilemmas in the face of deep funding cuts and spiralling children’s services spending have been mirrored at other locations around England, with Nottinghamshire the latest county to publish concerns last week. Read more.
You may also like
Covid has created legions of unpaid carers who urgently need support themselves
Last year, the health and social care select committee highlighted the social care system as “unfair, confusing, demeaning and frightening for the most vulnerable people in our society and their families”. But while the select committee’s report...
February 19, 2021
‘He’s beaten her black and blue for years’: a month in the life of a women’s refuge manager
Over the past year, reports of domestic violence have risen enormously – while refuge places are scarce. One woman explains what it is like trying to help those who have fled for their lives. Read the full article on this link to The Guardian ...
February 17, 2021
UK’s FGM safeguarding policies undermining welfare, study warns
Safeguarding policies introduced to protect women and girls against female genital mutilation (FGM) are instead eroding trust and alienating African diaspora communities, a study has found. Read the full article on this link to The Guardian Share...
February 4, 2021