Children’s Services in four local authority areas have been judged to be inadequate by Ofsted inspectors and eight councils were found not to have come up to the mark for the ‘staying safe’ outcome. In 2007 no council was rated as inadequate overall while four fell short of the required standard for ‘staying safe’.

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The Government is reviewing the way local authorities communicate with the people they serve. The current broad framework has been in place for twenty years and was drawn up before the advent of the Internet, pod-casting and blogs.

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The trickle down theory of wealth creation has not benefited the poorest areas of England during the boom years, concludes a report from nef, the new economics foundation. Despite substantial investment to regenerate deprived areas through enterprise, gaps between poor and wealthier areas have widened and pockets of severe deprivation have developed.

Read more on THE GAP YEARS…