COUNTY Council chiefs have apologised after a damning report from Government inspectors labelled children’s services provided by the authority as ‘inadequate’.
Worcestershire County Council Chief Executive Clare Marchant pledged an extra £3.5million into looking after the county’s children from April following publication of the OfSTED report yesterday (Tuesday).
The findings were made public following an inspection last October and November which saw inspectors look at how the council looked after children in care, in need of protection and those who had left the care system.
Inspectors highlighted ‘widespread and serious failures’ in the services in a devasting blow to County Hall chiefs coming just over six years after the council suffered an identical rating from a previous inspection.
An improvement notice issued at the time was lifted in 2012 when services were judged to be adequate but now it appears the authority is back to square one.
The latest inspection slammed elected members and senior leaders for not taking sufficient action to ensure the protection of vulnerable children.
“This corporate failure leaves children in Worcestershire at continued risk of significant harm,” it said.
Inspectors also criticised the creation of a ‘safeguarding improvement board’ by County Hall chiefs, claimed it hadn’t tackled poor working practices and said there was a continued lack of management of children’s services.
Shockingly, children who require protection from harm and who need urgent improvement in their lives are left in ‘situations of actual and escalating risk of significant harm’ according to the report.
Inspectors noted during the inspection there was strong political support for change and the pace of tackling the problems had increased.
“These changes have led to some very early improvements in the services that children receive. “However, services remain fragile, and it is too early to see any sustained impact on outcomes for children,” the report added.
In response, Ms Marchant said: “I want to say sorry to children and families where the level of service that we have provided has not been good enough.
“We accept the findings and I can assure you that we are working hard to improve outcomes for our children.”
Dr Catherine Driscoll was appointed as the council’s new Director of Children, Families and Communities last February while safeguarding children has been handed to assistant director Tina Russell.
Coun Marc Bayliss, the cabinet member with Responsibility for Children and Families said: “I am very disappointed by the outcome of this inspection but having been in this role for six months I am already beginning to see improvements.
“To enable our new Director of Children Families and Communities to deliver the improvements that we all want to see, this council is proposing to invest an extra £3.5 million pounds into Safeguarding Children in Worcestershire next year,” he added.
The Chairman of the independent Worcestershire Safeguarding Children’s Board, Derek Benson said the board was ‘concerned’ by the report.
“Improvements must be made and it is vital that all the agencies work together to meet the challenges ahead,” he added.
- IN RESPONSE to the report, the NSPCC said the findings ‘paint a deeply worrying picture of a stretched department with deep-rooted problems’.
“Relying less on agency workers, and reducing caseloads for staff, will be key to stabilising the workforce and ensuring sustained improvements are made,” a spokesman said,
“A coherent plan and strong leadership was required to address serious concerns raised in a peer review in 2015, but these have been lacking.
“Though changes are now being made, Ofsted says services remain fragile and it is clear there is a long way to go to ensure sustained improvements are made and children are kept safe.”
