The news that the education secretary has lost his chief adviser on children's services to the Cabinet Office has its up side and its down side.
Making Naomi Eisenstadt director of the social exclusion task force should help ensure that children's needs are central to the group's efforts, and help raise awareness outside the DfES of the whole Every Child Matters agenda.
But, for the DfES, the future is less encouraging. As yet, there are no concrete plans to appoint a new chief adviser on children's services. The department would commit only to "considering further future professional adviser arrangements in the directorate". However, there are no signs of the department's chief adviser on school standards going anywhere fast.
Given the relatively recently widened remit of the DfES to cover children's social care as well as education, it is essential that those with knowledge of non-education matters are given an equal voice. Eisenstadt's expertise, particularly around Sure Start and the Every Child Matters agenda, must be replaced to ensure the education secretary and his department stay on top of the wider issues affecting children and families, not just those around educational attainment.