Council to bring children's services back in-house

Control of services for vulnerable children and those with special needs will be taken over by a council.

Brighter Futures for Children (BFfC) was set up as an independent, not-for-profit-company by Reading Borough Council in 2018, following an inadequate Ofsted rating.

Now the council has voted unanimously to bring children's services back under its direct control.

BFfC was created with the aim of gaining a good Ofsted rating, which the authority said the company had been unable to achieve.

Leader of the Labour-controlled council, Liz Terry, said there was "good progress" made by the organisation in its eight years of operation.

She said: "The council and BFfC had come closer together and were working well together and we had to reach a decision on whether to extend the contract past March 2026."

The latest Ofsted rating for BFfC was requires improvement to be good, which Rob White, leader of the opposition Green Party group, said meant it had "failed in its main goal".

"As councillors, we are all corporate parents, and have a duty to children in care.

"Green councillors didn't support the setting of BFfC as we didn't think this was the best way of improving Reading council's children's services," he added.

He went on to describe the setting up BFfC as a "costly endeavour" costing taxpayers £2.8 million to set up and £600,000 to wind up.

Ms Terry said the setup fee for BFfC was paid for by the Department for Education.

Anne Thompson, of the Liberal Democrats said her party also supported the idea of bringing BFfC back in house.

"We feel that not doing so would be abdicating responsibility to Reading's children," she said.

Councillors unanimously approved the decision to bring children's services back under local authority control at a meeting on Tuesday.

The decision means BFfC will close on March 31, 2026, with all staff being retained and employed by the council.

You can follow BBC Berkshire on Facebook, X (Twitter), or Instagram.