Council-owned company to deliver children’s services

Reading Borough Council has proposed to move to a new model in the form of a council-owned property for delivering children’s services.

As part of its improvement journey, the council is suggesting setting up a council-owned trading company to build on progress made to date and to deliver long-term and sustainable improvements for children and young people.

The company will focus on improving the operation of children’s services, allowing social workers and other staff to concentrate on their core day to day activity of helping to keep children safe and deliver a range of other services to children, young people and their families.

The council hopes that the company will become a regional centre of excellence for social work training and development. Any revenue raised will go back into further improving council services in Reading.

The recommendation comes following discussions involving council leader Jo Lovelock, chief executive Peter Sloman and Reading children’s commissioner Nick Whitfield.

Reading Borough Council will now work up proposals on how the new company will operate, including developing a bid to central government for start-up costs for the new company.

The intention is that the new company will be operational by September 2018.

Jo Lovelock, Reading Borough Council leader, said: “While improvements have been made, every organisation involved in children services in Reading accepts the pace of improvement is not quick enough. We recognise there remains much to be done.

“Working with the commissioner, we have looked closely at all the options open to us. Transferring children’s services to a stand-alone council-owned company will ensure a single and dedicated focus on children’s care in Reading, allowing social workers and other staff to concentrate solely on their jobs. A number of councils have now followed this route. It means we can build on the improvements made so far and – importantly – it will allow us to ensure those improvements are sustainable in the long term.

“We are clear that the council will continue to meet its own obligations to children in Reading by holding the company to account for performance. That will form part of the contract.”