11 July 2008
Children in care, in prison or seeking asylum are still not served well enough by public services, inspectors have said.
The Safeguarding children report, published on July 8, found that, while much had changed in the past three years, some children and young people are missing out.
The report was published by the chief inspectors of eight public sector inspectorates, including Ofsted, the Healthcare Commission and the Inspectorate of Prisons.
They report every three years on how well agencies are working at both national and local level to protect children from abuse and neglect. Speaking for the inspectorates, Ofsted head Christine Gilbert said: 'It is encouraging to be able to point to some tangible improvements over the past three years, but the position is still not good enough to give our most vulnerable children and young people the support they need.
'I hope the recommendations from this report coming as they do with the force of eight inspectorates behind them accelerate the pace of change so that these children thrive and are more able to lead productive and fulfilling lives.'
The report notes that not all agencies are meeting their statutory duties, while lines of accountability and responsibility for child protection are still not always clear. It highlights a failure by some NHS trusts to make safeguarding children a high enough priority.
Healthcare Commission chief executive Anna Walker said: 'The needs of children with mental health problems or learning disabilities, particularly those with complex mental and physical needs, and young people in the criminal justice system, struggle to get to the top of the priority list.
'We will continue to press for services to work together, particularly for those young people in greatest need.'
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