It is good to see that Eileen Munro has now
come out against the government’s proposals to promote innovation in children’s
services by giving ministers powers to exempt councils from some statutory
duties.
Outside the inner circles of government there
seems to be ever-decreasing support for what has all the hallmarks of a really
bad idea. Widespread hostility towards the proposals, and withering criticism
from key figures, however, is no guarantee that they will die the death they
deserve. All too frequently poor policy ideas seem to persist in the face of
rational criticism and are often only overturned by catastrophic events.
Short of a ministerial reshuffle or the
government losing a general election there seems to me to be every possibility
that inertia and face saving will prevail over common sense.
I hope I’m wrong.
