Damning Ofsted report on child protection

Child protection service in Cheshire East have been judged "inadequate" in a damning Ofsted report.

The council's Scrutiny Committee met yesterday to discuss the implications of the report which found the "overall effectiveness of the arrangements to protect children in Cheshire East is judged to be inadequate".

"Inadequate" is the lowest rating in a four-point scale that defines "a service that does not meet the minimum requirements".

The report calls for immediate action to speed up protection for vulnerable children, to ensure clear record keeping, to monitor quality of practice at all levels and to ensure "appropriate and timely action to investigate child protection concerns."

In a catalogue of failings by the authority, the inspectors want top priority given to implementing a new assessment service, to accelerating plans for electronic social care record keeping, for a more consistent service from social workers, improved information sharing and a systematic training programme for staff and councillors.

The unannounced Ofsted inspection of Cheshire East child protection services last March took the council "by surprise", admits the report.

Five HMI inspectors arrived without warning to track a child's journey through the council's child protection service, focusing on the experiences of vulnerable children and the effectiveness of the help they are given.

Among the failings, inspectors found

• not all risks to children and young people were explored and referrals were prematurely closed.
• delays in commencing assessments leaving children and young people potentially at risk of harm.
• not all children in need having a plan, many plans without clear and achievable aims and plans not robustly reviewed
• risks left unassessed at the point of referral, leaving children and young people at potential risk of harm.
• variable frequency of social work visits with significant gaps in a number of cases.

There are around 83,400 children and young people in the Cheshire East area with 50,119 in mainstream school. At the time of the inspection 176 children were under child protection plans and 1,558 classed as in need of support.

On the plus side inspectors found that "Where children are clearly identified as at risk of immediate harm prompt and appropriate action is taken to ensure that risks are thoroughly investigated. Multi-agency planning for children subject to child protection plans is effective in appropriately reducing risks and parents are well engaged in this process. Planning for young people who are identified as at risk of child sexual exploitation is robust."

But there are clearly major weaknesses in the systems put in place to protect vulnerable children and young people in Cheshire East. The full report to councillors can he found here.

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