HC Deb 27 February 1997 vol 291 cc381-2W
Mr. Thurnham

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what criteria he uses to assess the performance of local authority social services departments; if he will publish a list of social services departments ranked by their performance according to these criteria; and if he will make a statement. [17671]

Mr. Burns

We recently published "Better Value For Money in Social Services", a national overview of trends and costs in social services in England over the last decade or so. Copies are available in the Library. This report, together with other published data, should assist local authorities to assess their own efficiency to ensure their services give value for money. We do not define centrally criteria which would form a basis for the performance of individual social services departments to be measured and ranked. Performance indicators for all services provided by local authorities are published annually by the Audit Commission.

Mr. Thurnham

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what is his policy in respect of public inquiries into the actions of social services departments in alleged cases of child neglect; and if he will make a statement. [17663]

Mr. Burns

Section 81 of the Children Act 1989 provides that my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State may cause an inquiry to be held into any matter connected with the social services committee of a local authority, in so far as those functions relate to children. Section 84 of the Children Act provides that if my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State is satisfied that a local authority has failed, without reasonable excuse, to comply with any of the duties imposed under the Children Act, he may make an order declaring the authority to be in default with respect to that duty. The order may contain directions for the purpose of ensuring that the duty is complied with. It is unlikely that it would be appropriate to use section 84 to investigate an individual's case.

Section 7 of the Local Authority Social Services Act 1970 requires local authorities to act under the general guidance of my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State in the exercise of their social services functions. The guidance called "Working Together under the Children Act 1989" was issued under section 7. Part 8 of that guidance requires that, whenever an individual case involves an incident leading to the death of a child where child abuse is confirmed or suspected, or a child protection issue likely to be of major public concern

Mr. Horam

Information regarding the numbers and nature of contracts awarded by this Department could be provided only at disproportionate cost. The total sums paid to those suppliers listed are as follows:

arises, there should be an individual review by each agency and a composite review by the area child protection committee.