Leicester council accused of failing to support vulnerable children by opposition

Leicester City Council’s children’s services have been accused of failing to support vulnerable children following what opponents have labelled a "damning" Ofsted report. The local authority was told it needed to make improvements in all areas looked at by the education watchdog after an inspection in September.

Ofsted found children were not always receiving the support they needed and that targets for them sometimes “lacked ambition”. Inspectors also raised particular concern over arrangements for some of the most vulnerable groups of kids in the city.

However, city council leaders said they did not fully agree the education watchdog’s findings, saying the report “did not accurately reflect the service” and that work on actions raised by inspectors had already been completed or was being worked on. However, the Leicester Conservative Party, which forms the main opposition on the authority, has said the report “exposed serious shortcomings” within the service and accused the council of “letting vulnerable children down”.

READ MORE: Leicester children’s services fail in all areas of Ofsted inspection

Hemant Rae Bhatia, leader of the Conservatives on the city council, said: “This report is a damning indictment of Labour’s leadership in Leicester. Vulnerable children are being let down, and rather than taking responsibility, Labour is trying to downplay the seriousness of the issues raised. These are not minor problems – they are failures that directly impact children’s safety and well-being.”

Conservative councillors are calling on the Labour leadership to improve their oversight of the service, adding there needs to be a focus on ensuring consistency in care plans and on reducing safeguarding delays.

Among the concerns raised by Ofsted was the “variable” quality of plans for children. Weaker plans were not detailed on children’s wishes and feelings or their religious and cultural needs, inspectors said. Moreover, targets including in education plans were not explicit enough on the actions need to achieve those targets, and “sometimes lacked ambition” for the child.

Oversight was neither regular not robust enough when it came to the small number of children who were being placed in unregistered children’s homes because no suitable alternative was available, and who were “potentially vulnerable” as a result.

Care leavers “in custody” also received “variable levels of support”, Ofsted added. A “small number” had not had face-to-face visits from their council worker “for long periods”, and for some, it was “not clear” how they were being helped to prepare for release.

Inspectors also criticised the authority’s handling of cases where domestic abuse was a concern. The local authority “often” placed “high levels of responsibility” on parents without indicating a “thorough understanding of the trauma” the parent themself may have experienced, the report said.

Some youngsters were also being “stepped down” from protection plans “too soon”. For children experiencing neglect, the council’s response was not “consistently effective” and there was “sometimes avoidable delays” in recognising that children’s experiences were not improving, according to Ofsted.

However, the watchdog did praised the authority in a number of areas, particularly when it came to staff relationships with children and carers. It said the council was in touch with most care leavers and staff had “enduring relationships with the young people they work with”, with those young people knowing “who to contact when they need advice” which they “readily” do.

Social workers were also said to “know their children well and speak about them with knowledge and sensitivity”. For most disabled children, “their disability and the impact it has on their life and their family’s life is well recognised and appropriate support is offered”.

Responding to the report yesterday (Wednesday, January 29), deputy city mayor with responsibility for social care Sarah Russell said: “This report was conducted back in September, which means we’ve already completed, or are working on, many of the actions and helpful points that were raised. I’m very proud that inspectors identified that our staff are well-supported, our workforce is stable and our social workers know their children well. It shows that we have a good baseline for improvement and the foundations of our social work practice are good.

“However, we also felt we couldn’t engage with Ofsted inspectors in the way we wanted to. We are experienced at undergoing inspections, but felt that the process this time was extremely difficult, with a lack of recognition of areas of good practice. Where things need to be improved, it is usually the case that very small numbers of children experience less than good support from us. This was not reflected in the final report.

“We are taking up these issues with Ofsted, but in the meantime our focus is firmly on ensuring that our staff are supported, children in Leicester are kept safe, and that we continue to work really hard to provide the best possible service for every child and family that needs our help.”