With Doncaster Children’s Trust facing demand-related overspends, Jo Miller urges others in the sector to ensure they have a grip on the performance and finances of their commissioned partners

It was fantastic to see Rotherham MBC’s children’s services Ofsted report as ‘good’ last week with some outstanding features. There was genuine joy for Rotherham from across the sector, recognising the distance travelled and the journey it has yet to complete. The turnaround from inadequate with services at a very low base in such a public sphere has been done with pace and agility as a whole council, whole partnership activity. I cannot think of a turnaround that’s happened at a quicker pace.