By Lucy Phillips
23 November 2010
Ten local authorities have had their child protection services rated as ‘inadequate’ by Ofsted.
The schools and children’s services watchdog published its annual report today, with 10 of the 29 local authorities in England inspected this year judged to be failing to adequately safeguard children.
The report describes the ratings as a ‘real cause for concern’. Ofsted chief inspector Christine Gilbert warned that the child social care system was coming under intense pressure, with increasing referrals and caseloads, staff shortages and greater public scrutiny.
The failing authorities are: Birmingham, Calderdale, Cornwall, Essex, Leeds, Nottinghamshire, Peterborough, Salford, Sandwell and Warrington.
Inspectors found they had unsatisfactory management processes, insufficient support for frontline staff and ineffective links between agencies, the health service and police.
‘Frontline practice does not happen in a vacuum. Where partnerships are in place and working well, all those involved recognise their responsibilities for keeping children safe and working hard to improve,’ said Gilbert.
However, Ofsted also found that the proportion of children’s services rated as excellent had doubled since the previous year.
The figures for local authorities are still provisional but
unlikely to change dramatically when finalised next month. Inspections were
mainly carried out in councils where risk assessments had raised concern.
Matt Dunkley, vice president of Association of Directors of Children’s Services said Ofsted’s findings were ‘clearly disappointing’.
‘However, the finding is not totally surprising as the inspections were rightly focused on those local authorities suspected of having difficulties in this area,’ he said.
'It is also important that these findings are seen in the context of rising demand for social care services… Whilst some authorities have managed to find imaginative ways of dealing with these issues, others have found that, despite their best efforts, it has not been possible to manage the increasing pressures with low staff numbers.'
Ofsted said schools were, on the whole, performing well, despite a tougher inspection regime, but the quality of teaching came under fire for being too variable. Some 50% of teaching in secondary schools and 43% in primary schools were criticised as ‘simply not good enough’.
‘The fact is that there continues to be too much teaching that is dull and uninspiring and this makes it harder for pupils to learn,’ said Gilbert. The problem was not only confined to the weakest schools, with too many schools ‘tolerating pockets of poor teaching alongside good practice’, she added.
The 43 academies inspected this year performed particularly strongly, with 11 rated outstanding and nine as good. Most had been set up to replace failing schools.
The report came as the watchdog prepares to have its role overhauled – and budget cut – in tomorrow’s education white paper. Ofsted’s schools inspection framework is likely to be streamlined and its remit redefined.
