A DAMNING report on Warrington’s safeguarding and looked after children’s services was released today by Ofsted.
The report, which follows a two-week inspection carried out by the Government children’s services watchdog, shows the authority was judged to be “inadequate” under 15 main headings, only “adequate” under 16 other headings and “good” under only two.
In no area of the service was the council found to be “outstanding.”
Earlier in the year, Ofsted had carried out an unannounced two-day inspection which sounded alarm bells.
New director of children and young people’s services Kath O’Dwyer, (pictured) who joined the authority only nine weeks ago, was appointed shortly before the unannounced inspection and arrived in post only days before the formal two-week inspection in September.
Interim head of safeguarding children Gill Rigg arrived at the same time.
Both have previous experience of “turning around” failing children’s services in other areas.
They say there is nothing in the Ofsted report they had not identified before it was received.
Ms O’Dwyer said: “It makes grim reading – but we are here to ensure things improve.”
She praised Warrington’s hardworking and dedicated front-line staff and said more staff had been, and would be, engaged to help improve the service.
“We are now on the right track. We will bring about improvements – but we can’t do it overnight.”
She said the council and its partners – the Children’s Trust Board and the Safeguarding Children Board, which includes the health service, police and other bodies, acknowledged acknowledged and accepted all the Ofsted recommendations.
All Ofsted recommendations which called for immediate action had been implemented and all others would be complied with in line with an Ofsted timetable.
Ms O’Dwyer added: “We have already started to make a range of positive changes, bringing in more frontline staff and restructuring the whole team from the top down to ensure we can take swift and decisive action to implement the recommendations and improve these critical services.
“Our improvement programme will require major change in some areas and will pay particular attention to making sure our manager and staff have the tools, the skills and the resources to do the task we are asking them to do.
“We will take whatever action is necessary to ensure we have safe, supported and successful children and young people.”
Coun Sheila Woodyatt, executive member for Children and Young People, said: “We recognise the need for swift and sustained action and have already embarked on a significant improvement programme. We have appointed a new director who brings a wealth of experience and we are now urgent recruiting high calibre individuals to work with us as we continue our drive to ensure all children and young people in Warrington are supported, protected and encouraged to achieve their potential.”
Warrington currently has 260 children in care and 121 being safeguarded.
