THE MOVE to bring Reading Borough Council’s Children’s Services back in-house have been completed, it has announced.
Brighter Futures for Children (BFfC) had delivered Children’s Services on behalf of Reading Borough Council (RBC) since December 2018.
Around 600 members of staff have today moved back to the Council, but the BFfC brand, which has been established over the past seven years, will continue to be used externally.
The recommendation for Children’s Services to move back into Council control was made following a jointly commissioned independent report by the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA).
The decision was subsequently made at a council meeting back in January.
In its recommendation, CIPFA stated that the transition would provide the council with better direct control of Children’s Services and would remove a layer of governance and lead to more “agile” decision making and removing duplication of reporting.
It also argued that it would remove the pressure on council services of maintaining service level agreements and improve integration with other council services.
Since January, a transition plan has been put in place and implemented by officers to support the move.
Alongside this, a transformation project has been under way in BFfC to address the recommendations in the most recent inspection reports, ahead of the transfer to RBC.
Cllr Liz Terry, Leader of Reading Borough Council, said: “We are delighted to welcome over 600 members of Brighter Futures for Children staff back to the Council. My gratitude goes to the BFfC Board and staff, whose commitment and dedication to children in Reading is without question.
“The Council now not only has better direct control over Children’s Services, but an additional layer of governance has been removed, helping to further integrate the services with other Council responsibilities.
“While there have been a significant number of successes over the past seven years across Children’s Services, we are committed to continuing the improvement journey to ensure that all Reading’s children get the best possible start in life.”
However Councillor Rob White (Green Party, Park Ward) leader of the main opposition party on Reading Council, said: “Labour-run Reading Council setting up Brighter Futures as an arms length company has failed in its main goal of giving us decent children services.
“This is a terrible result for the town’s children–Greens opposed the setting up of this company and we support bringing it back in-house where there is more transparency.
“Unfortunately Labour-run Reading Council’s are already projecting a £6 million overspend by the end of the financial year.
“It cost taxpayers £2.8 million to set up and £600,000 to wind up–does this sound like value for money from Labour-run Reading Council?”
