The government has announced the winners of the performance action team contracts for four of the zero star rated social service departments, writes Lauren Revans.
Multinational management consultancies KPMG, Deloitte and Touche, and PricewaterhouseCoopers have begun work with Coventry and Walsall, Birmingham, and North-East Lincolnshire respectively to implement their emergency action plans.
Arthur Anderson and PA Consulting, which were also short-listed, failed to win a contract, and the department of health said there were "no appropriate bids" from the public sector.
The teams will support the four social services departments on a short-term basis, and improvements must be made by October or the government will consider "statutory intervention powers".
A spokesperson for the department of health said: "The main thrust of the performance action teams is to support staff to develop their capacity and systems, and to deliver improved social services, particularly those in relation to children’s care."
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