Ofsted find widespread failures in Knowsley children’s services

An Ofsted inspection of Knowsley Council’s children’s service has found widespread failures rating them “inadequate”.

Inspectors said the council had a high turnover of social workers in assessment and safeguarding teams – and inexperienced staff were carrying out visits to children.

Ofsted’s report said there were “significant weaknesses” in management, with a history of “infrequent and poor supervision” of social work staff. It said there had been improvements, but quality remained low.

Inspectors found record keeping was variable and often poor across social work teams. They said it was taking too long for children in care to be placed for adoption when it was in their best interest.

The report said: “Widespread failures and inconsistent practice across help and protection services leave some children and young people at risk of suffering harm.

“Too many children and young people who need help and support or who need to be cared for by the local authority experience drift and delay.

“Some have been left for too long in situations where they have suffered harm.”

A review of the effectiveness of Knowsley’s Safeguarding Children Board also concluded its performance was inadequate.

The report said senior council officers were aware of “significant deficits” in its services for children and families and an improvement plan had been drawn up – but it was too early to see any significant impact.

It read: “The local authority is aware of these weaknesses, and has developed an improvement plan.

“Recently appointed senior managers know what they need to do to improve the quality of practice and services for children and young people in Knowsley.

“However, remedial action is still at an early stage and significant impact is not yet evident in day to day practice.”