Children in Care let down by Herts County Council

Performance figures just issued by Hertfordshire County Council's Children's Services show that only 13% of children looked after by HCC managed to achieve the critical 5 x A* to C grades.

This was against a target of just 25%.

"If this was a specific school rather than children in the care of the authority it would have been put in special measures or closed altogether", commented Mark Watkin opposition spokesperson for Children's Services.

"The Conservative run County Council is responsible for ensuring every child in its care achieves to his or potential. It has totally failed to do this and these unfortunate children will face a struggle for the rest of their lives if they fail to achieve their potential."

Cllr Nick Hollinghurst, Tring and the Villages, added "All County Councillors worry greatly about the welfare of children that are in the authority's care. Although there are some outstanding exceptions where young people have done very well indeed, it is disappointing that Hertfordshire has fallen so far short of what was really a very modest performance target."