You get the services you ask for - to a point.

So the carnival begins again.

A child has been murdered under the noses of the very services set up to protect children.

Of course this is against a backdrop where the service philosophy has been to leave children home unless there are compelling indeed overwhelming reasons not to do so.

In truth you get the services you ask for. Let the street lights go out, the holes in the streets start to swallow cars and your councillor will get phone calls and letters.

Run a children's service on a shoe string and no one says anything until a child dies and even then it's blame game at the sharp end whilst the managers who shaped the service take cover and the councillors who agreed the budget lead the baying hordes.

That said there is a growing culture of managerialism inside children's services with a lot of the money not going to children but those who manage the services. At least these days when Rome burns we have a manager to fidle shame we don't have a fire engine or fire fighters!

The quality of social workers is on the up too, those of us involved in social work training cannot fail to be impressed with the calibre of the new recruits to social work in the UK.

Whether of course they will be allowed to make a difference is another matter. we could just be recruiting for people to leave burnt out in a few years time, or use their new better qualification to go and practise social work abroad.

As I said you get the social services you demand.

R