Weaknesses have been found in the protection of vulnerable children in Reading, as the council is months away from taking control of children’s services.
Children’s social care in the town is run by Brighter Futures for Children (BFfC), a council-owned company that was set up in 2018.
BFfC was founded after Reading Borough Council’s children’s services were rated ‘Inadequate’.
The social services it provides include caring for vulnerable children, arranging school transport and making education arrangements for children with special needs.
A joint targeted area inspection of Reading published in May found significant weaknesses in providing support to young victims of domestic abuse.
Councillors have agreed to create a Children’s Services Improvement Board ahead of the council taking back control of children’s services in April 2026.
Councillor Rob White, the leader of the opposition, highlighted the joint targeted area inspection at a meeting, accusing the Labour administration of cuts that are making outcomes for families worse.
He said: “Greens support Brighter Futures being taken back in-house as it has failed Reading’s children. We also support setting up an improvement board. However, I would like to highlight Reading Council’s failings on the domestic abuse of children, fuelled by Labour austerity, which is pretty damning for the council.”
Cllr White (Green, Park) went on to explain that the inspection focused on children aged 0 to 7 years who are victims of domestic abuse.
The inspector identified ‘significant weaknesses’ in the multiagency approach to prevention, help and support for children and their families who are victims of domestic abuse in Reading.
The report states: “Many children who are victims of domestic abuse do not get the service they need at the right time, and decision making is too often delayed based on partial information.”
Cllr White said: “Problems were recognised a year ago, but since then, very little progress has been achieved.
“In the budget, Labour have cut family help for the last two years, this year by £285,000 and last year by £605,000. This has made things worse. This inspection is damning. We need investment in public services, not Labour austerity.”
However, it was clarified that the cut to family help was filled by the government, allowing the council to make a saving.
Wendy Griffith (Labour, Battle), lead councillor for children, explained: “The family help cut, the government plugged that gap for us, so that £285,000 that was cut before from the council, we were able to plug that with revenue from the government, which means that there is no cut in service for early help.”
Advocating for the setting up of the improvement board, Liz Terry (Labour, Coley), the council leader said: “The service continues to need some oversight, and has a transformation plan in place, and it’s important we get this in place as soon as possible to assist us in making sure that all of our children are safe.”
The creation of the board was approved unanimously at the last full council meeting.
