Report says Moray childcare unit is showing big improvement

Moray’s child protection services have made significant improvements, a new report has revealed. Details of a follow-up inspection of protection services for children and young people in Moray were published by HM Inspectorate of education yesterday.

A range of issues has been identified as having improved since a damning report in 2008.

HMIe originally inspected child protection services in Moray in 2008 when they were criticised for “significant delays” in the identification and investigation of suspected abuse.

Immediate responses to concerns were considered unsatisfactory and the system was regarded as having weak leadership.

The report revealed some young victims of sexual abuse were “distressed” by arrangements to examine them, including the lack of choice between a male or female doctor, and the absence of a facility in Moray where the examinations could be carried out.

It said social workers “did not always carry out routine checks” before placing children with relatives and revealed that some children were left in “high-risk” situations.

Inspectors revisited Moray four months later at the request of Scottish ministers, and said that progress had been made in a relatively short period.

The latest report says that services have improved further since the last inspection. It says: “Overall, good progress has been made in responding to the main points for action in the original inspection report. “Services, individually and collectively, had taken forward improvements in important areas, including the use of appropriate legal measures; information sharing between paediatricians, social work and the police; risk assessment and planning of child protection, and the involvement of individual children in decision-making.”

Moray Council’s director of community services Sandy Riddell, who chairs the child protection sub-committee, said: “This is a very positive report reflecting considerable progress in a wide range of policy and practice areas. Staff in all agencies have worked very hard in delivering the improvements required”.

He added: “However, despite this positive inspection report, there is no room for complacency and I can assure the public that agencies are continuing to work to strengthen services further.”