SIR – The announcement that up to 700 jobs could go in children’s services raises some very serious concerns, not only about the level of care the council will be able to provide, but the motivation in targeting this area so quickly and publicly.
Councillor Liz Eyre says that the cuts will not affect the improvement work.
How on earth can she say this when a full complement of staff could not achieve any improvement at all so recently?
If, as appears to be the case, she is intimating that the management staff have the necessary exceptional skills to achieve such a difficult task, why on earth did the service get into such a mess before?
Perhaps it’s because they don’t have the skills, as two Ofsted reports have clearly shown.
The council’s provision on children’s services has been highlighted as severely difficient in certain areas.
Based on a full complement of staff, making the necessary Ofsted improvements would be challenging.
Councillor Eyre needs to tell the people of Worcester what has changed to enable such savage cuts to take place,while making such giant strides.
What managerial revelation has improved the councillors’ abilities so massively?
Yet again, the most vulnerable are the first to suffer.
RICHARD FARRELL-ADAMS
Worcester
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