Social services for vulnerable children in England to be privatised - Polidicks

[quote]Serco may be among firms bidding for contracts as Labour show concern over removal of checks that safeguard standards [b]The government is planning to allow outsourcing firms to bid for contracts to manage social services for vulnerable children in England – while dropping laws allowing the removal of companies that fail to do the job properly.[/b] A number of firms have expressed an interest in proposals that would allow them to bid for contracts managing foster care and providing other services for children in care. [b]But Labour says the plans would take away legal provisions that allow councils to remove a firm that has failed to meet national minimum standards. They would also relax the rules governing independent inspections of services that place and monitor children who are looked after by the state.[/b] Concerns have emerged after two of the biggest outsourcing companies in Britain, Serco and G4S, were found to have overbilled the taxpayer by charging to tag offenders who were dead or in prison. Lisa Nandy, the shadow children's minister, said the latest plans would leave some of Britain's most vulnerable children at the mercy of an unregulated private sector. She has written to the regulatory reform committee, which is considering a draft legislative reform order, urging it to reject the government's plans. Nandy's letter said the reform order would remove the requirement for direct registration and inspection by Ofsted of providers of social work services in England, by amending the provision which imposes it. "It appears to remove the obligation for a national minimum standard relating to the fitness of providers and any mechanisms for removing providers who fail to meet these standards. The implications are potentially very serious and could have a profound impact on the lives of some of the most vulnerable children in the country." A Department for Education spokesperson said that even though some legal requirements would be removed under government plans, inspections and a national minimum standard for providers would be covered by councils' existing obligations. The DfE said it was "nonsense to suggest that private-sector and voluntary organisations cannot provide good-quality services for children" and that the suggested change in policy was first explored under the last government. The coalition has enthusiastically embraced such moves. Pilots in six areas where the private sector was involved, inspected by Ofsted, were set up as a response to concerns that social workers were overburdened and unable to dedicate enough time to supporting children in care. [b]The evaluation, published last year, showed mixed results but no better outcomes for children in care.[/b] The DfE said: [b]"It is nonsense to suggest that private-sector and voluntary organisations cannot provide good-quality services for children. Arrangements to allow some councils to delegate social work functions relating to children in care were in fact first introduced by the previous government in 2008.[/b][/quote] [url]http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2013/jul/18/social-services-children-privatised-labour[/url] Can you please stop privatising everything please.

That's fucking stupid, things like this shouldn't be run like a business.

"The government is planning to allow outsourcing firms to bid for contracts to manage social services for vulnerable children in England – while dropping laws allowing the removal of companies that fail to do the job properly." This is how privatization always seems to go, at least in the UK; allow them to take over a crucial service while simultaneously dropping all laws that hold them to a certain required minimum standard of service, and then wonder years later why it's all fucking terrible.

Hooray for screwing over helpless children for money.

This is so incredibly beyond fucked up. I have NO words.

ok at this point I think everybody in power needs to go home, they're all drunk how is this even a fucking remotely good idea, and why are you going to LET them underperform

Nothing like a good old autocracy. [editline]20th July 2013[/editline] Seriously, who the fuck even [i]wants[/i] this?

[quote]Pilots in six areas where the private sector was involved, inspected by Ofsted, were set up as a response to concerns that social workers were overburdened and unable to dedicate enough time to supporting children in care.[/quote] Maybe if the government didn't cut funding for public sectors this wouldn't happen.

This is horrible

[QUOTE=WeekendWarrior;41528799]Maybe if the government didn't cut funding for public sectors this wouldn't happen.[/QUOTE] Well the pilots began as far back as 2009, the report was commissioned by Labour well before the coalition came into office