Despite an election campaign, most issues are not discussed nor would most political parties consider asking us, we are only the customers and funds providers.

One example is Government inspections of social workers working with children, which according to a damning review to be published this week push failing teams further into decline and place vulnerable children at risk because they spark a spiral of counterproductive reforms,.

The critical report will say the Ofsted inspection regime, designed to check that children’s services are fit for purpose, is “outdated”, “one-dimensional” and condemns entire departments where only a handful of failings are found.

Authored by local government expert Amanda Kelly, the study will say: “From our analysis the impact of a negative inspection serves the complete opposite purpose of protecting children. A quick glance at councils recently found to be inadequate demonstrates some stark impacts following the one-word judgment given. These include an increase in work volumes of up to 50 per cent (in already overwhelmed organisations), a significant reduction in timeliness of intervention leaving children more unsafe, and a surge in staff turnover with the resultant use of an ever more transient and costly agency workforce.”

If we don’t even get a say when there is a general election what hope is there for the remainder of the five years??

This links with the exclusion of independent Andy Kirkwood from the hustings in Swanage (echo 27-04-15), it seems there is always someone who knows what is good for us, better than we know ourselves. When will the electorate be valued?

Lee Dalton

Fairview Road

Weymouth