Children 'not safe' as services rated inadequate

Children under the care of Dudley Council have been put at risk and are unsafe, according to Ofsted.

An inspection by the watchdog in July rated all areas of children's services as inadequate, finding that they had deteriorated since a previous visit in 2022.

Inspectors found "for too many children, ineffective and, for some children, unsafe practice, and an absence of effective management oversight, have resulted in them living in circumstances of risk for too long".

The council's chief executive Balvinder Heran said there had recently been significant change at the authority and there was "nothing in the report that was not expected".

She added that a new director of children's services, John Macilwraith, had been appointed in November, the senior team had been restructured and finances had been stabilised with a £21m investment agreed for the department.

Ofsted inspected the authority's children's services between 6 and 17 July.

It found the impact of leaders on social work practice with children and families, and the experiences and progress of care leavers, children in care and those who need help and protection, to all be inadequate.

Referrals to the multi-agency safeguarding hub (MASH) were poor with delays at all stages of decision-making.

The response to children who go missing and were at risk of exploitation was insufficient and there were delays in the response to children who were at risk of significant harm, inspectors said.

Assessments were inconsistent and the quality of child protection plans poor, with "significant weaknesses" in the response to 16 and 17-year-olds who were homeless.

"The lack of stable leadership during the past five years, coupled with staffing reductions and reduced capacity, have been barriers to progress," the report stated.

Although a permanent director had been appointed, "his ability to deliver change is, and has been, impacted by the absence of an effective permanent senior leadership team and insufficient operational workforce capacity."

Senior leaders understood that significant and sustainable change was needed and while "credible" improvement plans were in place, they were yet to have an impact, inspectors said.

Heran said: "Whilst the report from Ofsted has been incredibly difficult and challenging, it has shown us one thing that we know ourselves as well, that the areas for improvement we identified as part of the work that John [Macilwraith] commissioned have all been reflected back in the report."

Previous investment in children's services had always gone on external placements, she said, but now the money would go on strengthening the department and its services and reducing that cost.

"We are determined we will make all the improvements and they will be sustained," she said, adding that inspectors would return in early 2027.

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