Bolton scraps ‘outstanding’ education welfare service

Bolton Council has scrapped its education welfare service as part of a value-for-money review. The review, of all local children’s services, will see Connexions staff take on responsibility for improving attendance in local primary and secondary schools.

The new Connexions-led service is due to be in place by September, but schools will be without specialist attendance support between now and then.

Connexions staff have traditionally only worked with the upper end of the secondary age group, working with young people not in employment, education or training.

Jenny Price, president of the Association for Education Welfare Management (AEWM), criticised Bolton Council for getting rid of a service that improved attendance levels and reduced persistent absence to the extent that government rated its performance as outstanding.

She warned that while Connexions staff may rise to the challenge of working with children of primary school age, it would take time for them to build up expertise in this area of work.

“There must be concerns that irregular attendance patterns, so often linked to safeguarding issues, will become the responsibility, and not for some time, of a group of workers who are on such a steep learning curve,” she said.

“At a time when there is so much focus on safeguarding, this must seem to be an unwise and potentially dangerous move.”

But Margaret Asquith, director of children’s services in Bolton, denied that the changes would leave schools without support.

“It is expected that this review will provide improved services for children and young people, more focused on the needs of the child,” she said.