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An Ofsted report on Kent County Council's (KCC) child protection services, published on Friday (19 November), has found that in the worst cases, children were left unprotected and were at risk of significant harm.

In a prepared statement by KCC leader, Paul Carter he says: "Kent County Council has been given an inadequate rating for our safeguarding and looked after children services by Ofsted.

"We have always had a reputation for a strong service and as Leader of KCC I can say no service is more important to me and to my Cabinet Members. We take the Ofsted judgement extremely seriously.

"Let us be under no illusions that looking after vulnerable children is the most complex and challenging task. Our social workers are dedicated people who work very hard. But this is a service which is rooted in making judgements about the lives of families. So this work entails some of the most difficult and demanding judgements that have to be made in public service.

"As leaders of the service we need to re-focus our efforts so that the work is at the frontline, not on processes and tick box procedures.

"The Ofsted report is critical of public agency partners who work across the field of safeguarding. We now start the recovery plan to restore the level of services to good or outstanding.

"My energies and those of my Cabinet will be absolutely focused on supporting and challenging everybody involved to put right any shortcomings and weaknesses that have been identified by the Ofsted inspection.

"KCC will implement every recommendation within the timescales set and will welcome a follow up inspection by Ofsted in 12 months time, by which time substantial improvements will have been made.

A joint media statement from Kent County Council, Kent Children's Trust, Kent Safeguarding Children Board, NHS West Kent, NHS Eastern and Coastal Kent, Kent and Medway NHS Trust and Kent Police said: "We are all responsible for protecting children and young people in Kent. There is no greater priority for any of us.

"Our safeguarding and looked after children services were inspected by Ofsted. Today (19 November) Ofsted has published its report and asked for improvements in the work of each agency in how we work with children, families and carers in this most vital area.

"We fully accept the findings of the report. Where we have fallen short we offer our sincere apologies. All agencies are completely focused on putting right the shortcomings and weaknesses that have been identified. There is no greater priority for us all than the protection of vulnerable children, young people and their families.

"We know that actions speak louder than words. We would like to reassure everyone that the areas identified for immediate improvement by Ofsted are already being addressed. We will provide regular updates on our progress so that people can see what is being done and hold us to account.

"Our unstinting focus is on the frontline – the hundreds of men and women working across social care, health and the police who safeguard children. They all do a difficult and demanding job facing unimaginable pressures.

"Referrals have been rising (up by 21%). Kent, like many local authorities, has struggled to recruit sufficient staff to deal with the increase in workload. However following a £5million investment by Kent County Council and successful recruitment campaigns here and abroad, the social worker vacancy rate has more than halved from 26% in January 2010 to 11% currently. In time this will make a difference to what has been a fragile and overwhelmed service.


The Report’s findings - Looked after children

The Ofsted inspection has rigorous grading criteria. It found that services for looked after children in Kent are inadequate overall, mainly due to low educational attainment. This means we cannot get a higher grade unless educational achievement for looked after children is at least at the national benchmark. However leaving care arrangements and adoption and fostering services are praised. Because of these strengths, this service has been graded as having adequate capacity to improve.

The Report’s findings - Safeguarding

Safeguarding services have been graded as inadequate due to a high number of cases not receiving quality assessments, high caseloads for social workers and inadequate management and supervision.

There are also concerns about access to Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services for both children in need and looked after children. A high number of inappropriate referrals from other agencies and insufficient use of early intervention support in the community have also been highlighted.

The report acknowledges the pressures faced by agencies, and the improvements put in place prior to, and following, the unannounced inspection in August 2010 but because these improvements are yet to be realised, Ofsted has graded KCC and its partners as having inadequate capacity to improve in the area of safeguarding.

Rosalind Turner, KCC Managing Director for Children, Families and Education, said: “KCC and its partners fully recognise the pressures on the service, and regret very much that some vulnerable children and families are not receiving the quality and timely response they deserve. The first priority for us all is to safeguard all our children and young people.

“There are examples of good practice in the report but we need to confront all aspects of practice which are deemed less than adequate. We are undertaking a major improvement programme with external scrutiny and support. The service, along with many others nationally, has become too focused on process and coping with the relentless increase in demand.

“We will support our social workers and managers and work with our partners to ensure exemplary support for children and families is delivered by our frontline teams.”

Ofsted carried out an unannounced inspection of the duty and assessment service in August 2010. At that time Ofsted identified one area for priority action on the lack of timely assessments in a small number of cases, acknowledging this was due to pressures because of a significant rise in referrals.

An improvement steering group was established in September 2010 to oversee immediate action on improvement. This group is chaired by KCC Cabinet Member Sarah Hohler and includes cross party Members, senior KCC managers, partners from health and the police and frontline managers and staff.

Sarah Hohler, KCC Cabinet Member for Children, Families and Education, said: “KCC fully accepts the findings of this Ofsted report. Our social work staff work very hard but clearly elements of the service have fallen below the standards we aspire to. I want to reassure everyone that we are working on the most immediate areas with the utmost urgency and will address the other recommendations as quickly as we can and within the timescales set by Ofsted.

“We are all totally committed to making these essential improvements.”

Ann Sutton, Chief Executive of NHS Eastern and Coastal Kent and Marion Dinwoodie, Chief Executive of NHS West Kent, said: “The NHS in Kent is committed to doing the utmost to safeguard children. While we acknowledge the seriousness of this report, we feel the feedback will help us continue to focus our efforts.

"The report highlights significant areas for improvement in partnership working, as well as areas of good practice throughout Kent, including the quality of training and supervision. There are a number of further areas indicated in the report where work is already being done to address some of the concerns that Ofsted raise.

"The two primary care trusts in Kent are addressing the concerns raised in the report as a matter of urgency and are working closely with our acute hospitals, community services, mental health providers and GPs to continue to improve the quality of safeguarding in Kent.”

David Worlock, Chairman of the Kent Safeguarding Children Board said: “During 2010 the Kent Safeguarding Children Board has been strengthening its leadership and quality assurance role. There has been a particular emphasis on focusing on the outcomes for children, not just the processes.

“Key themes from serious case reviews have been identified and are being followed through until the Board is confident real change has happened in practice. The need for a robust quality assurance framework for safeguarding work had been recognised and should be introduced soon. The Board’s ways of working are being reviewed to make sure they are fit-for-purpose.”