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Filkin under fire

Lord Filkin came under fire today for the government’s failure to place a statutory duty on schools to participate in the new arrangements set out in Children Act designed to better integrate services and improve the wellbeing and life chances of all children, writes Shirley Kumar.

Delegates at the conference in London about the education for young people in public care highlighted the move could have significant ramifications for looked after children.

Hampshire team manager Rachel Hughes told the parliamentary under secretary of state for children and families in the department for education and skills that it was a “glaring mistake that threatens to undermine the duty placed on local authorities to promote the education of children in care”.

Other attendees said the government was sending out “too many mixed messages”. The Act fell short of really making a difference to the educational needs of looked after children, they added.

Filkin, who admitted that children in care were 10 times more likely to be excluded from school than other children insisted there were a number of mechanisms in place to urge schools to participate.

These measures include a new framework for inspection in schools to prioritise children in care and new clear guidelines to clarify head-teachers’ duties in including looked after children which will be out for consultation in January.