A “warts and all” report into Children’s Social Care services in Birmingham chaired by Cllr Len Clark has won a top national scrutiny award.
Called Who Cares, the inquiry marked a turning point within Birmingham City Council, providing a forensic and honest examination into the problems faced by the service.
Cllr Clark was recently appointed as Executive Member for Children’s Social Care to ensure the report’s recommendations are fully implemented.
The Centre for Public Scrutiny awarded the Who Cares inquiry for raising the profile of scrutiny during its annual conference in London.
Judges described the scale and nature of the press coverage that followed as “absolutely striking”. They commented on the fact that many national media thought the report had come from an external inquiry, as if they could not believe such a frank and hard-hitting document could be internally produced by the Council.
Cllr Clark was commissioned to lead the inquiry by a top level taskforce chaired by Council Leader Mike Whitby following a critical assessment of Children’s Social Care in December, 2008.
The report’s recommendations received unanimous cross-party agreement and has directly impacted upon the improvement plan now in place.
The inquiry has also been credited with demonstrating a new culture of openness and willingness to be challenged on the part of the executive, which fully accepted the recommendations.
Cllr Clark said: “On behalf of Birmingham City Council and those colleagues who made a significant contribution to this report, I am honoured to accept this award.
“It is also a credit to the bold leadership within the Council that we were given the freedom to be so open and honest about the problems in Children’s Social Care.
“Now in my new role as Executive Member for children’s social care, I am determined to see the recommendations we made in the report are followed through.”
Cllr Whitby also praised the report, adding: “Cllr Clark’s work on Protecting Children and Improving Children’s Social Care is an excellent example of everything our ‘critical friends’ in Scrutiny should be: robust, challenging, fair and focused on improving outcomes for our city.”
Writing at the time of publication of the Who Cares report, the Birmingham Post’s Public Affairs Correspondent Paul Dale, said: “In a refreshingly brief 22-page document, Cllr Clark and his all-party inquiry did not pull their punches… It is possible that the Clark report may mark a turning point for children’s services.”
ENDS
Further information from Shahid Naqvi 0121 303 3635.
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