Revised direction issued to West Sussex County Council (July 2000)
A revised statutory direction issued to West Sussex County Council due to poor performance in children’s social care services
Applies to England
Documents
Details
This direction has now closed. A revised direction issued in December 2020 replaces it.
This revised direction requires West Sussex County Council to:
- continue to work with the Department for Education (DfE) appointed commissioner and officials on ongoing improvement
- set up a company to provide children’s social care services
This follows an 8 May 2019 Ofsted report which judged that the council’s children’s social care services were inadequate and a report into children’s services by John Coughlan CBE
The report recommends that children’s services be removed from the control of West Sussex County Council and immediate steps be taken to improve children’s social services before the new company is set up
This revised direction replaces the earlier statutory direction issued in June 2019.
The above letter has been issued to West Sussex County Council. It outlines the principles which the Department for Education has agreed in response to a request for flexibilities from the local authority to enable it to deliver the requirements of its statutory direction, while responding to the challenges of the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak.
Updates to this page
Published 17 December 2019Last updated 10 December 2020 + show all updates
-
Direction closed, replaced with a revised direction issued December 2020.
-
Added letter from DfE relating to coronavirus (COVID-19).
-
First published.