Network Whispers - New faces at the Social Mobility Commission and the other F-word strikes again

MISSED OPPORTUNITY The Social Mobility Commission has announced 12 new commissioners to help with its ‘relaunch’ after the resignation of the chair and committee members last year. Among them is editor-in-chief of women’s mag Cosmopolitan, a sales assistant at Marks & Spencer and chair of Capital City College Group. None has obvious early years experience, despite nine of the opportunity areas – parts of the country identified as having particularly poor social mobility – having early years priorities.

EFFING AGAIN One has to pity the poor unwitting press officers. Someone at West Sussex County Council put up a Halloween-themed post on its Facebook page with a picture of pumpkins featuring the words ‘30 hours free childcare’ and asked for feedback – and you can guess what happened next. Fifty disgruntled providers massed to challenge the use of the term ‘free’, with Helen Davies saying, ‘Another delusional local authority. It’s not free… where do you think the shortfall comes from? Oh yes, the childcare provider.’ Childminder Andrea Susan quipped, ‘May as well be paid in pumpkins, at least that way there would be food on the table.’

DISPOSABLE WIPE Halloween may have passed, but GDPR continues to spook, with news that redundant IT equipment must be wiped before it is disposed of. Over half of educational organisations fail to do so, according to one recent survey, risking a hefty fine.

WORRIED SICK What’s up with the 8,000-odd civil servants working at the Department for Education? The number of sick days taken for mental health reasons was 5,466 in the first six months of this year, according to a ministerial response by Nadhim Zahawi. Just a thought, but before the 30 hours policy came in, in 2015, the figure stood at 4,152 for the entire year. Then again, there is the small matter of Brexit…