Stephen Ladyman: No complacency

The latest star ratings for social care have shown eight local authorities are still failing to meet minimum standards.

The new Commission for Social Care Inspection released its findings on councils' performances for the first time on Thursday and found an overall improvement in results.

The number of authorities receiving the top level three stars went up by four to 20 compared to last year, while eight more scored two stars, taking the total to 82.

Councils scoring just one star went down from 52 to 40, but the number gaining no stars at all remained stuck on eight.

While two town halls pulled themselves off the bottom rung of the government's league table, two more fell into the category.

Special measures

Bedfordshire, Birmingham, Cumbria, Ealing, the Isles of Scilly, Oldham, Plymouth and Swindon authorities were all therefore automatically put on special measures by the commission.

Chairman Dame Denise Platt said she was also concerned about the failure of many councils to progress on their previous score.

"Our findings show modest gains in the quality and delivery of services across the board, which we applaud," she said.

"But we are also concerned that some councils appear happy to remain at a one-star or two-star level.

"Our aspiration, which should be their aspiration, is that all councils in England should be providing three-star services to the people they care for."

Lottery

Children's minister Margaret Hodge said people were suffering from a postcode lottery of discrepancies in standards.

"I am determined that every child should have the opportunity to fulfil their potential and receive the support and encouragement they need to do this," she said.

"In many councils this is already happening. But there is still too big a gap between the best performing and worst performing local authorities.

"Poorly performing services are letting down children and this cannot be allowed to continue."

And while congratulating the best authorities, health minister Stephen Ladyman said "there is no room for complacency".

"While we will support councils with their improvement, we will also be keeping a watchful eye on those who persistently under perform," he said.

"And in those circumstances we will not hesitate to use the powers at our disposal to ensure that people have safe and decent services."