Press release on Eleanor Brazil’s departure

The Families Alliance for Change (Herefordshire) - FAC - has welcomed the news that Eleanor Brazil is no longer the Department of Education’s Children’s Commissioner to Herefordshire Council.

She was appointed in September 2022 to oversee improvements in Children’s Services but two years on her report in December 2024 confirmed that despite millions of pounds of additional investment, little progress has been made.

Eleanor Brazil failed to engage meaningfully with parents with poor experiences of Children’s Services with the result that her reports to the Minister for Children have lacked analysis of the real risks in the system. She has repeatedly set vague targets and spared the leadership of Herefordshire Council from any serious criticism.

Two years on, the service continues to be unsafe and lacking in self-awareness. An Article 2 inquest into the death in August 2023 of a vulnerable young care leave who died while living street homeless with Class A drug users will take place shortly and is likely to lay bare the full consequences of the lack of sustained progress across the service. There remain widespread concerns for the safety of children, not least those left in placements after the police have raised safeguarding referrals about carers.

The concern that parents and the public who raise complaints about poor practice are silenced and harassed is alive and well – too often, difficult complaints are shut down with no answers. Rates of children in care may be falling but are still 70% higher than our statistical neighbours.

The Families Alliance for Change hopes that when the Department for Education makes any new appointments in advisory roles, those appointed will make it a priority to meet with parents and groups such as FAC to talk openly and honestly about families’ current and historic experiences of the service.