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MPs urge education secretary to ensure further child deaths are avoided at 'failing councils'

Cross-party MPS have written to the education secretary Kit Malthouse outlining their concerns about child services in Solihull and Bradford after the deaths of Star Hobson and Arthur Labinjo-Hughes in 2020.
Cross-party MPs have written to the education secretary outlining their concerns about the local authorities, PHOTO Adobe Stock
Cross-party MPs have written to the education secretary outlining their concerns about the local authorities, PHOTO Adobe Stock

The Education Select Committee is urging Malthouse to prioritise vulnerable children that it says are currently being failed by the local authorities. 

Following an accountability hearing with the councils’ chief executives and interim directors of children’s services in June, the Committee, made up of cross-party MPS, has condemned the ‘inadequate’ response of the local authority leaders and called on the Department for Education and Ofsted to assess the progress made by both councils.

The Committee’s letter to the education secretary highlights a ‘clear deterioration’ in standards at both children’s services, predating the pandemic, and asks him to consider whether the leaders are ‘capable of continuing to try and establish significant change.’

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