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The sorry plight of Cornwall's children's services is well known: slammed by Ofsted in October, and without a director of that department ever since; under scrutiny from a government-appointed troubleshooter and with no effective long-term voice within the council's Cabinet since councillor Sally Bain resigned.

At the end of January, applications closed for anyone seeking to take on the job as the new director. Last week, in response to local newspaper inquries, the council issued a statement saying the search for a suitable candidate continues and that the application deadline is being extended.

Aha! we all thought - clearly it's a job that no-one would touch with a barge-pole. "The Crisis Gets Even Worse!" and similar headlines crossed my mind. But then (perhaps unusually) I thought: "hang on.....end of January.....still not out of March....is it really that unusual? Even the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ takes at least several weeks to make relatively junior appointments...."

And so the story remains unwritten, at least by me. If there's no new director by May, then probably that is a story.

Of far greater significance right now is the impending departure of the popular and highly regarded deputy director of children's services, Sheila Smith, who is off to a new and better job in Somerset. Children's minister Dawn Primarolo is waiting to see her troubleshooter's first interim report. Let's hope she's a fast reader.