National child protection agency warning

A new report from leading bodies in health and social care warns
the government against setting up a national child protection
agency. The report, Serving Children Well – a New Vision for
Children’s Services, urges the government to build on local
structures rather than replace them.

Produced by the Local Government Association, the Association of
Directors of Social Services, and the NHS Confederation, the report
says that, when a tragedy such as the death of Victoria Climbi’
occurs, there is a tendency to view it as a failure of the whole
system rather than a failure of one component or a unique set of
events.

Other proposals in the report include:

• Children’s champions to promote the interests of children and
  identify weaknesses.
• A unified performance management system based on the National
  Service Framework for Children.
•  New children’s strategic partnership boards reporting to local
  strategic partnerships.

The report can be found at www.lga.gov.uk