Children’s services supplied by Sefton Council have been rated ‘inadequate’ in a scathing review published by Ofsted today, with the report finding: “both serious and widespread failures in core areas”.
The assessment, conducted earlier this year between February and March, found that: “The council and senior leaders have not sufficiently understood [earlier] failures or taken the necessary actions to improve services for children.”
Representatives of Sefton Council have said they acknowledge the findings, that they will “learn and improve” and highlight that £10m was allocated toward children’s social care in 21/22 in an effort to improve, while calling for more funding from central government. In response to the report, Conservative councillor Mike Prendergast has called on the relevant Council cabinet members to bring in government commissioners to oversee the service, while Opposition leader on Sefton Council, Cllr John Pugh, believes there has been “a terrifying vacuum of responsibility”.
The report lists 14 broad areas for improvement, including management of staff and case handling, performance and quality assurance, pathways for children, handling of allegations against professionals, educational attainment, and timely access to services in urgent cases, among others.
Ofsted detailed that a number of changes have been made since earlier inspections, but Martin Birch, Director of Education and Children’s Services, who took on the role after the review, conceded these changes and planned improvements were not happening fast enough.
Dukes ward councillor Mike Prendergast said: “It is an absolute scandal that Children’s Social Services have once again been rated as inadequate by Ofsted. The most recent report clearly states that the political and executive leadership within the department have failed to address the multitude of issues previously identified. The most vulnerable children in Sefton are still being let down by a system in Sefton that seemingly cannot operate effectively under the current leadership. We have been given repeated assurances by those in charge that things are getting better, but this has turned out to be nonsense.
“The same issues identified previously are still there and it is genuinely shocking that this report is only now being published, just days after the local elections. Why wasn’t this in the public domain before the elections took place, given the inspection finished on 4th March? Why weren’t voters in Sefton able to view this report before casting their votes?
“The Leader of the Council and Cabinet members must now recognise that improving the department, which is a core statutory function of the council, is beyond them and must voluntarily request that commissioners are sent in by central government to oversee the urgent improvements that are required. They should also consider their own positions, so far there has been no accountability for the repeated failures in this department, children only get one childhood and the most vulnerable children in Sefton are being failed.”
Cllr John Pugh told OTS News: “The Ofsted report points criticism of council leadership at the political and executive level and the Council accept the report, but no one individually accepts responsibility for on-going and chronic failure- certainly not the Labour administration. It is only luck that has kept Sefton out of the sort of headlines that a Baby P type episode generates. In all these tragic high profile cases you have the same buck-passing for service deficiencies that Ofsted have identified in Sefton
Responding to the Inspector’s report, Martin Birch, Director of Education and Children’s Services who joined Sefton Council in April this year, said: “Whilst we are very disappointed about the overall outcome of the Inspection, Ofsted has acknowledged the improvements we have made since last year’s pandemic focused inspection, but these improvements have clearly not been fast enough in some parts of the service.
“We accept the findings of the report, and we are absolutely ready and willing to take these recommendations on board, learn, and improve.
“We take Ofsted’s findings incredibly seriously and we have already started making changes in response to the report.
Cllr Mhairi Doyle MBE, Cabinet Member for Children’s Social Care, said: “It is no secret that most local authorities continue to face severe financial challenges. We have made a call on Government, along with leaders from across the Liverpool City Region, to tackle growing issues nationally with the recruitment and retention of children’s social workers as these present a significant challenge not just in our region, but across other parts of the country.
“During 2021/22 we have put an extra £10 million into the budget to increase the numbers of Social Workers, better support foster families, and improve safeguarding and edge of care services, in addition to making available additional resources in recognition of demographic pressures facing the service and rising costs.
“The Covid pandemic has had massive impacts on a large number of Sefton families, many of whom are now in need of additional support from the Council’s service areas, including Children’s Services. Demand is at unprecedented levels, which is why the Council will continue to call on Government for additional resources to support our improvement plans and to address the challenges we face in the recruitment of permanent social workers and in the children’s care market.
“There is still much work to, but we are confident that with our committed workforce, and the significant financial investment into Children’s Services, our ambitious plans can be delivered, and improvements made at pace.
“Improving our service is not just about improving the Ofsted rating, it’s about making sure children benefit from the best services possible, making sure they are safe, protected and inspired to reach their full potential.”
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