PLANS to widen the scope of the new company running children’s social care to include the majority of education services have moved a step forward.

A report which laid out Worcestershire county council’s rationale for giving responsibility for many education services to Worcestershire Children First, the new company running children’s services, was accepted by the council's cabinet at a meeting on Thursday (November 15).

The report said it would mean the new company could focus on improving services for children and young people as a whole as well supporting an integrated approach.

Councillor Andy Roberts, cabinet member for children and families, said the decision was a “steer” and a final decision on the merger would be made next year.

He said there was a “strong synergy” and “a great deal of overlap” between children’s social care and education services.

He said he was aware of the fear over losing some sovereignty but said a balance must be struck in the best interests of the county’s children and young people.

He said: “I believe that this strategy is least likely to cause a dip in the improvements we have seen in the last 12 months. I’ve got to be frank, the improvement of our children’s services is more important to me than any structural change or provider.

“We have got to provide better services for children and we are doing that and we have got to continue to do that without a dip.

“The solution may not be palatable to everyone but I think it is the best solution.”

If plans are approved next year, Worcestershire Children First, which will be running children’s services from next April, would also be responsible for the majority of education services, early help services, services for children with special educational needs and disabilities as well as the commissioning of services for vulnerable children and families and community health services.

County Hall said widening the scope of Worcestershire Children First would allow the company to have a “single unwavering focus” on children and young people in the county.

The report said: “With a broader scope, this focus will cover the full range of services for children and young people thus supporting a more inclusive and integrated approach.

“There will also be opportunities, which otherwise would not have existed, to integrate service provision together, such as services for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND).”

Cllr Marcus Hart, cabinet member for education and skills, said the key words were “fragmentation” and “integration” and said it was better for all the services to be kept together.

He said: “It is absolutely fundamental for me that we ensure those leaders in our system who have got the improvement journey this far are in a position to carry that journey on and that is a very persuasive argument for putting those services together.”

A motion put forward by the council’s Lib Dem and Green councillors at a full meeting of the county council on November 8, said they were “shocked” by the plans and called for a full consultation before such a “huge” decision was made. It was not discussed at the meeting because a time limit on debate was reached.

It said: “It would be a severe loss of democratic involvement in the life and needs of Worcestershire’s young people and would offer a blank cheque from council tax payers for policy and priority choices made by the independent company.”

At the cabinet meeting, Cllr Fran Oborski said she had some concerns over the move and asked what consultation would take place with staff before a decision was made.

She said the move would create a “democratic deficit” in the county’s education services and would mean no political input from the council as a whole would be made.

Cllr Liz Tucker said a better understanding was required “at the very least” for the council’s scrutiny committee and the ways in which councillors not at an executive level could scrutinise and ask questions of the new company needed to be made obvious.

She said: “It is very concerning that councillors are looking in from the outside while such a huge principal decision is taken today and there is huge silence until another huge decision is taken some time in the spring.

“I do believe this needs to be properly organised and managed as a whole council, not just the inner sanctum.”

An Ofsted inspection in March blasted the council and the county’s clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) for its plans for children with SEND and ordered a proper improvement plan was put in place.

The county’s children’s services has been rated inadequate since January 2017.