The children’s services department at Birmingham City Council has been placed in the Government spotlight.
Children’s minister Beverley Hughes has sent in two new assistant directors and an external monitoring team has been set up to check on the department. It will report back monthly to the minister.
The council had already been warned that it had a year to improve following the deaths of 15 children since 2005 due to abuse or neglect.
The council was already one of the ‘Ofsted eight’ identified for poor performance.
In a letter to council leader Mike Whitby, Ms Hughes said she wanted to ensure progress was made ‘swiftly and decisively’.
She said: ‘I have decided to underpin the improvement measures and progress I expect, with an improvement notice. This will give Birmingham City Council 12 months to demonstrate robust and sustained progress, with a review after six months.’
In response Tony Howell, Birmingham's director for children, young people and families, said: ‘The elements of the package are built around areas of support we asked the department for towards the tail-end of last year.’
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