I’m still trying to wrap my head around this story, as reported by the Salford Advertiser.

The background is that the man in charge of Salford’s childrens homes was suspended back in April 2009, after being accused of failing to alert Jill Baker (then Head of Children’s Services) about poor Ofsted reports of the city’s childrens homes.

Mr Kelly has now been cleared, and following a return-to-work programme, will either resume his original post or take up another one.

My question – if Mr Kelly is innocent of this charge (he is!), then who is the guilty party?

Will the Council be looking for another scapegoat? Jill Baker herself perhaps (she has already been sacked, so it would be very easy to pass the blame onto her)?

What is the Lead Member for Children’s Services, Langworthy Councillor John Warmisham’s role in this matter?

If Mr Kelly DID pass on the bad Ofsted reports, then it could be that either the Lead Member for Childrens Services and/or Jill Baker ignored them – or that they were, ahem, “lost”.

Either way, it’s incompetence on a grand scale. Jill Baker has already been sacked for gross misconduct – John Warmisham should be sacked for the same reason.