Who will stand up for the children in care who are being let down, as evidenced by repeated scandals? The home owned by Robert McGuinness in Bolton, and closed in January after Ofsted discovered a child who had not changed his clothes or bathed for months, is an egregious example of the casual neglect that has spread like a stain across the sector.
Mr McGuinness, the Guardian revealed last week, spent thousands from a community interest company set up for educational purposes on bars and holidays. The company claimed that the spending was a legitimate form of salary sacrifice. But while his behaviour was extreme, the official neglect of vulnerable children that made it possible is far from isolated. Alternative provision settings that educate pupils excluded from mainstream schools in England do not all have to register with Ofsted. Business owners do not even undergo basic checks.
