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Child protection 'inadequate', Ofsted chief warns Wilshaw's tough message on child protection services
(about 3 hours later)
One in seven councils in England is "inadequate" at caring for some of the most vulnerable children in society, the watchdog Ofsted has warned. "Manifestly and palpably weak" leadership and a high turnover of directors are undermining efforts to improve children's services in England, says Ofsted's chief inspector, Sir Michael Wilshaw.
The standard of child protection was found to be "unacceptably poor" at 20 councils. There are 20 local authorities rated as inadequate for protecting children.
Only one in four local authorities was rated "good" at safeguarding children, the new report by Ofsted said. Sir Michael branded Birmingham as an example of bad practice, which he called a "national disgrace".
Ofsted is responsible for inspecting children's social care, including child protection services, in 353 councils. He suggested the local authority might need to be broken up.
Inspectors found that a persistent absence of stable leadership was a feature of most "inadequate" local authorities. Sir Michael also called for a wider recognition of the impact of children's environments, such as irresponsible and alcohol-dependent parents and living on streets lined with betting shops and fast-food shops.
The watchdog said more needed to be done to address "incompetent and ineffective" leadership in children's services, saying one in three local authorities in England had changed its director of children's services last year. 'Social breakdown'
The report also found the nationwide picture of poor performance was complex and changing - with the group of authorities currently judged inadequate this year being very different to those of July 2012. Presenting his annual report on social care, Sir Michael delivered a series of hard hitting messages about weaknesses in protecting children.
In its first stand-alone social care annual report, Ofsted found that in the weakest councils: Inspectors only rated four in 10 local authorities as "good" or better for safeguarding.
• basic acceptable practice was not in place It should be an "urgent priority" of government to examine the role of local authority safeguarding bodies, said Sir Michael.
• supervision, management oversight, purposeful work with families and decisive action where children were at risk from harm were ineffective His inspectors had often reported major concerns about these bodies, he said.
• the views of children and families were rarely considered And he warned about the negative impact of too much "volatility" in the senior leadership in children's services.
• support from key statutory partners - health, police, schools - was weak and poorly co-ordinated "One in three local authorities has had a change in their director of children's services last year alone. The combination of unstable communities and political and managerial instability in our social care services is a dangerous mix," said Sir Michael.
• managers did not appear to have a firm understanding of what constituted good practice - making the management of risk and support for staff at the frontline almost impossible. He warned that poor leadership was often isolated from frontline staff, such as social workers, many of whom felt "profoundly undervalued".
'Danergous mix' Sir Michael said that the average career span in social work was only eight years and the profession faced a "demographic timebomb".
Chief inspector of Ofsted Sir Michael Wilshaw said: "As it stands today, there are 20 councils where the standard of child protection is unacceptably poor and judged to be inadequate. He delivered a stinging attack on Birmingham's services for children - accusing them of long-running failures in supporting the safety and well-being of young people in England's biggest authority.
"Incompetent and ineffective leadership must be addressed quickly. But where those in leadership positions have capacity and potential, this must be recognised and nurtured. The city had a poor record on child mortality and child poverty, he said, and there had been repeated failings in inspections and inadequate serious case reviews.
"Too much leadership volatility in social care is counter-productive - that goes without saying. One in three local authorities has had a change in their director of children's services last year alone. This was "failure of corporate governance on a grand scale", he said.
"The combination of unstable communities and political and managerial instability in our social care services is a dangerous mix." Asked after his speech if he meant that the authority should be broken up, he said that was the implication of his argument.
Sir Michael also warned of the destructive force of "social breakdown" on young lives and how they were let down by their families.
"They lack more than money, they lack parents who will take responsibility," he said.
There were 705,000 children living with alcohol-dependent parents and 130,000 in homes where there was domestic violence.
"Compassion should not be about making excuses," said Sir Michael, who warned about the corrosive consequences of the "hollowing out and fragmentation" of families.
He quoted Louise Casey, the so-called troubled families tsar, as warning that there was too much "pussyfooting around" in supporting families, with too many meetings and too little action.
Debbie Jones, Ofsted's national director of social care, said that the child protection system was under "huge pressure", with rising volumes of work at a time when local authority budgets were under pressure.
The 20 councils where the standard of child protection services has been judged "inadequate" by Ofsted are:The 20 councils where the standard of child protection services has been judged "inadequate" by Ofsted are:
Barnsley, Bexley, Birmingham, Blackpool, Calderdale, Cambridgeshire, Cheshire East, Cumbria, Devon, Doncaster, Herefordshire, Isle of Wight, Kingston upon Thames, Medway, Norfolk, Northamptonshire, Rochdale, Sandwell, Slough and Somerset.Barnsley, Bexley, Birmingham, Blackpool, Calderdale, Cambridgeshire, Cheshire East, Cumbria, Devon, Doncaster, Herefordshire, Isle of Wight, Kingston upon Thames, Medway, Norfolk, Northamptonshire, Rochdale, Sandwell, Slough and Somerset.