EXCLUSIVE

“WE'LL GET BETTER” - SANDWELL KIDS BOSS

22-02-2007

The man in charge of Sandwell's zero rated chidren's services has vowed that by this time next year it will have two stars - helping to lift the council out of the country's bottom five local authorities.

Overall, the Black Country borough has been a one-star ranking in today's assessment by the National Audit Office; but what's holding it back is the consistently poor marks in the area of “looked after” children ie those in council homes or who are fostered.

Darren Cooper, the Cabinet Member for Children and Young People admitted: “The situation has been extremely difficult. The data were collected last year and we weren't far off being put into special measures.

“When I came in a couple of years back, there was a culture of ‘can't do' and we're trying to change that to a culture of ‘can do.'”

Cooper insisted that the Audit Office measured compliance with ‘processes', rather than necessarily indicating poor standards of care, and he insisted: “None of the children in our care are in an unsafe environment. By this time next year, we will get a two star rating.”