Inspectors have released a damning report into failings by Cheshire East Safeguarding Children’s Partnership.
The report points to a series of “failings”, “shortcomings” and “weaknesses” in its role in protecting children from criminal exploitation, leaving some in “situations of risk and harm”.
The Partnership, which is made up of Cheshire East Council, Cheshire Police, Police and Crime Commissioner, and local NHS services, said today it was “truly sorry”.
Inspectors from Ofsted, His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services and the Care Quality Commission spent four days in July examining how well those organisations are working together to protect children.
Inspectors said the Partnership did “not understand the extent of the failure to protect children who are at risk, or victims of, criminal and sexual exploitation”.
It added that there was “insufficient scrutiny of the day-to-day experiences of these vulnerable children, with too much focus on process”.
And blamed the Partnership for a “lack of a multi-agency training strategy around child exploitation” which meant “many staff do not have the required skills to consistently help and protect exploited and missing children”.
Inspectors reported that “urgent action” was required to address the “underlying complexities and continuing risks to exploited and missing children across all agencies and services as too many children remain in situations of risk and harm”.
In its headline findings, inspectors said: “Until this inspection, strategic multi-agency partners did not understand the extent and impact of the failure to protect children and drive forward plans for those who are at risk of, or are victims of, criminal and sexual exploitation.
“Notwithstanding the tangible commitment and ambition of all partners to improving services, there is insufficient senior leadership analysis of the underlying complexities or understanding of the day-to-day experiences of these vulnerable children.
“These are serious and fundamental weaknesses, leaving some children in situations of unassessed risk and harm. Multi-agency action plans are ineffective. Evaluation is not based on a systematic analysis of the impact of frontline work across services; instead, there is too much focus on process.
“Leaders have identified areas for development, but changes have not been implemented quickly enough. The pace of change for exploited children is too slow.”
It also criticised senior leaders for over-working staff.
The report said: “Senior leaders across partners do not have an accurate view of the impact of high workloads on their staff.
“Social work caseloads are too high in many teams. Contingency planning is absent for too many children.”
Inspectors did praise the work in the community by youth justice staff, youth workers and police officers as well as safeguarding support for schools.
Read the full inspectors letter, released today (September 26)
In response, the Partnership said it would immediately review the support for children and young people at risk of exploitation.
And it will establish an independently chaired board responsible for its written statement of proposed action.
A joint statement from the Safeguarding Children’s Partnership said: “We fully accept all the inspectors’ recommendations and are truly sorry that there were gaps in our work to protect these children and young people.
“Criminal exploitation has a devastating impact on children, young people, their families, and local communities and our job is to support the whole family to help to keep them safe.
“Following the inspection, we acted immediately and are working hard to make sure that this vulnerable group of children are supported and protected. Improvements have already been implemented and we are working together to build on our strengths and address all the areas for improvement as a matter of urgency.
“Inspectors highlighted the commitment and dedication of staff across all agencies and that they know the young people well. We’d like to thank everyone who works tirelessly to support children, young people, and their families, to protect them and keep them safe.
“We are ambitious for our children and young people in Cheshire East. Through working together across our partnership, we are committed to an open dialogue, brave thinking and action that supports children here to be safe, happy, and healthy.”
If you are concerned about a child’s welfare or feel that they are at risk from their peers, other adults or within their communities, call the Cheshire East consultation service for help and advice on 0300 123 5012 (option 3) or the out of hours service on 0300 123 5022.
If you think you or someone you know is being criminally exploited, call 101 for police assistance.
For more information on child exploitation and how to know and see the signs, visit www.knowandsee.co.uk
Another sorry from CEC. They really have had a bad September. What else will be exposed in the last two days of the month?
Are our elected members who get around £1,000 per month going to make a statement to their electorate on what they are going to do to remedy this poor report.
Is the PCC going to comment?