Children’s services will get its third secretary of state in two years after the government announced Damian Hinds would be the new head of the Department for Education.
The move follows former education secretary Justine Greening, who had been in post since July 2016, quitting government yesterday (8 January). Children’s minister Robert Goodwill was sacked as part of the reshuffle, with no replacement yet being announced.
Greening replaced Nicky Morgan, who first introduced the government’s current reform agenda around accreditation and changing the regulator.
Greening had largely followed Morgan’s reforms, but the vision of accreditation rollout slowed substantially since Morgan’s tenure, and the new regulator is yet to hire a leadership team.
Greening was also the minister who, alongside the then children’s minister Edward Timpson, u-turned on the government’s bid to put the ‘exemption clause’ in the Children and Social Work Act after a protracted battled with the profession.
The move means more change at the policy end for children’s social work, which saw Edward Timpson replaced by Robert Goodwill less-than-a year ago, following the government’s snap election.
Hinds takes on the role from a previous position in the department for work and pensions. He has never rebelled against the current government.
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I’m personally very sorry to Christine Greening go. She was the last of the Tories with a heart as far as I’m concerned although there may be a few under the radar waiting for the climate to change. I wish her well.
Hopefully no more eugenisists ( we are now aiming very low..)
And in Damian Hinds we have the typical Tory, educated at a posh private boys’ grammar school in Cheshire, then Oxford, then business… Doesn’t bode well.