Chair of children's review brands Stormont "dysfunctional" for rejecting his key reform
The chair of a review into children’s social care in Northern Ireland has branded the power-sharing executive “dysfunctional” after it rejected his key recommendation.
Professor Ray Jones said he was left “angry” at the failure of an administration which he claimed was too mired in “sectarian and party politics” to deliver radical reform.
The 16-month review, published three years ago, called for the creation of an “arms-length body” (ALB) to run children’s services, ending 50 years of integration within health and social care trusts.
Prof Jones argued families were being let down because children’s services were not prioritised within trusts where hospitals and other health services dominated.
The recommendation received widespread support within the sector. However, Stormont said estimated costs in excess of £4.68 million to set up the ALB “Regional Authority” were too high.
A joint statement released on 2 July by health minister Mike Nesbitt and justice minister Naomi Long said: “The financial circumstances within which all Northern Ireland departments are operating has created significant pressures and challenges for delivery bodies on the ground.
“While there may be efficiencies to be gained within a Regional Authority in the longer term, the cost (in its widest sense) to deliver it outweighs identified benefits at this stage.”
The ministers pointed to other children’s services reforms that were being delivered.
However, Prof Jones accused the government of short-termism, “confused accountability” and “without clarity” over budgets which meant money was wasted.
He said: “What I have learnt while and since doing the review in Northern Ireland is that the systemic and endemic crisis for the region's children's social care services is embedded within a much bigger dysfunctional crisis with Northern Ireland's political and public administration system.
“Issues which need urgent attention are kicked into the long grass by a power-sharing political executive which seems unable to act collectively and where sectarian and party politics dominate. This is not just my view - it is what I have been told by senior politicians and civil servants.
“I, along with the thousands of young people, families, and those working within and alongside children's social care, who shaped the recommendations of the review, are left anxious and angry.”
Prof Jones said Stormont’s failure to implement the ALB meant children’s social care would continue to be “marginalised” within trusts, adding: “This is yet one of numerous Northern Ireland reviews which has run into the sand and this time with children and families left stranded.”
Other reactions
Michele Janes – director of Barnardo’s Northern Ireland and Scotland
““This is missed opportunity to deliver the fundamental system change that Professor Ray Jones’ Independent Review identified as necessary to improve outcomes for children, young people and families. At a time of rising demand, increasing complexity of need and continued pressures across children’s services, maintaining the current fragmented system falls short of the ambitious, transformational reform that children, young people and families have repeatedly called for.”
Lorna Ballard – national director at Action for Children
“While the ministers have highlighted plans for closer collaboration across the sector and the welcome investment of £60 million for a new regional model of family support, the reality is that without a shared framework and clear and accountable leadership, services will continue to operate in silos. Children and families will miss out on the benefits of a truly integrated, sustainable system.
“The ministers argue that creating a single agency is too expensive, with estimated implementation costs of £4.68 million over four years. Yet the current system also comes at a cost – through inefficiency and, more importantly, through the impact on children and families who deserve joined-up, high-quality and accessible support in their communities.
“We remain hopeful that the door is not closed on a single Children and Families Authority for Northern Ireland.”
Avery Bowser, social worker and fostering services manager in Northern Ireland
“It’s time to face up to facts that in NI we are serial offenders when it comes to not following through with major reviews in health and social care.
“It also provides further evidence, if any were needed, that politics where we live is not working. It’s not delivering an Executive and ministers with the ability to take strategic decisions.
“What we are left with is precisely what Prof Jones warned us about – the dead hand of the system holding on to the status quo in the false belief that one more heave of business as usual would deliver transformation.”