Supplementary memorandum submitted by
Rt Hon Margaret Hodge MBE MP, Minister of State for Children,
Young People and Families
I am writing to follow-up on some points that
arose when I attended the Education and Skills Select Committee
on 9 June.
I said that I would get back to the Committee
on three issues: the procedure by which the Children's Commissioner
would report to Parliament; the numbers of Local Authorities that
are already reorganizing themselves in line with the proposals
in Every Child Matters; and the intervention arrangements if police
provision for children is found to be failing.
You expressed some strongly held concerns that
the Children's Commissioner would not in practice be truly independent
from the Department for Education and Skills, and that the arrangements
for the Commissioner's reporting to Parliament through the Secretary
of State might be seen as evidence of this.
I have double-checked the proposed arrangements
and am content that they properly underpin the Commissioner's
independent status. The Children's Commissioner will be a Non-Departmental
Public Body, appointed in line with the usual public appointments
procedures—with the involvement of children and young people.
While the Children's Commissioner will be accountable to the Secretary
of State for the proper use of public money, it will not be for
the Secretary of State to influence how the Children's Commissioner
organises and uses resources or the topics he wants to review—including
the new power for the Children's Commissioner to instigate inquiries
into matters of wider public interest. The Commissioner's annual
report will be sent to the Secretary of State, who will lay a
copy before each House of Parliament. The Secretary of State may
not amend the Commissioner's annual report in any way. As I said
to the Committee, this procedure mirrors that for HMCI's Annual
Report (Ofsted's), which is set out at Section 2(7)(a) of the
School Inspections Act 1996. The distinction is that Ofsted in
organisational terms is a non-Ministerial government department,
which we did not think appropriate for the Children's Commissioner.
It will however be open to the Select Committee to call the Children's
Commissioner to appear before it in the usual way.
Where the Secretary of State directs the Commissioner
to hold an inquiry into a particular case, the Secretary of State
may only amend the report insofar as that is necessary to protect
a child's identity when it is undesirable for their identity to
be made public. The Secretary of State must then publish the report
and lay a copy before each House. Any ad hoc reports or
reports of inquiries initiated by the Commissioner will be published
by the Commissioner with no involvement from the Secretary of
State. I hope this clarification reassures the Committee as to
the Commissioner's independence.
In response to Helen Jones' concern that Local
Authorities will not move towards a Children's Trust model without
first being required to make sure that staff in their education
and children's social service departments are integrated, I said
that I would send the committee details of the number of Local
Authorities that have chosen to reorganize in preparation for
delivering the Every Child Matters agenda effectively.
It may be helpful if first I recap on the commitments in this
area given in Every Child Matters:
— most areas to have a Director of
Children's Services and a Lead Council Member in place by 2006;
all areas to have these in place by 2008;
— most areas to have a Children's Trust
by 2006; all areas to have a Children's Trust by 2008;
— Local Authorities are required to
make partnership arrangements with key partners and other agencies
including the voluntary and community sectors to improve the well-being
of children in the area.
25 Local Authorities (17% of all Local Authorities
in England) have reported that they already have a Director of
Children's Services as defined in the Children Bill in post. Of
those Authorities without a Director, 59% have future plans to
appoint one, the majority of which have plans to make the appointment
by April 2006.
31 (21%) Local Authorities have reported that
they already have a Lead Council Member for Children's Services.
Of those Authorities without a Lead Member, 59% have future plans
to put a LM in post, the majority of which will have confirmed
this appointment by April 2006.
With regard to Children's Trusts, 35 have been
established in pathfinder areas. Of those Authorities that do
not have a Children's Trust, 46% report that they have plans to
develop one.
129 Authorities (86%) report that they already
have a Children and Young Persons Strategic Partnership in place
which next steps document anticipated authorities would want to
build on in developing their local partnership agreements. Of
those Authorities without a CYPSP in place, 60% intend to do so.
I am encouraged by the early commitment of many
local authorities in taking forward the Every Child Matters
agenda. Anecdotal feedback suggests that Local Authorities are
positive about bringing about change in the way that the children's
services are administered in their areas.
Finally, Jonathan Shaw asked me about intervention
where police provision for children is found to be failing. The
current provisions within Clause 41 of the Children Bill mean
that the powers of intervention under section 497A of the Education
Act 1996 can only be used with regard to education functions and
those functions set out in 41(2) of the Children Bill, which include
children's social services functions and arrangements for co-operation,
safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children.
Where a police force is not considered to be
efficient and effective there are a range of options that currently
exist to address this. These include performance management frameworks
and statutory powers of intervention. The intervention powers
are to a great extent powers of last resort and to date have never
been used. They are intended for situations where there is systemic
under performance across a number of areas of police business.
The powers of intervention—as they currently
exist under the Police Reform Act 2002—could only be used
following an adverse HM Inspectorate of Constabulary report. In
any event, the Home Secretary's powers of direction apply to the
Police Authority, which are responsible for maintaining the force,
rather than the force itself.
As I said at the meeting, we are developing
an agreed framework for children's services interventions, within
which national partners may use intervention and performance management
measures as appropriate to make sure that failures are tackled
as part of an integrated strategy within an area. We are working
with national and local partners as appropriate to develop this
framework.
27 June 2004
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