Peterborough's children's services are criticised by Government inspectors

Peterborough’s Children’s Services have been criticised by Ofsted inspectors who warn that staff are often too slow to identify and tackle some needs.

The criticism has been targeted at Peterborough City Council children’s service’s so called ‘integral front door’ (IFD) – the local authority’s multi-agency arrangements for the first point of contact for anyone highlighting concerns about a child’s wellbeing.

A statement from Ofsted about the inspection in March states the criticism is not aimed at work involving youngsters most at risk.

It states: “Immediate and obvious risks to children and unborn babies are quickly recognised.

But it adds: “When children are not deemed to be at immediate and obvious risk, responses are not timely enough for too many.

"This is because there are initial delays between the contact centre and IFD. Once the contact is progressed, there are too many delays in commencing and concluding multi-agency safeguarding hub enquiries.

"This delays important decisions being made about children.”

The inspectors detail two areas for priority action around the ‘timeliness of response to contacts, referrals and multi-agency safeguarding hub enquiries about children and subsequent visits from social workers’ and ‘multi-agency arrangements and responses to children and young people at risk of extra-familial harm.’Ofsted has demanded an action plan be drawn up within 70 working days.

The inspectors have also called for action to ensure children’s experiences are understood and that their ‘voice is reflected in all social work interventions.’

The report states: “Workers sometimes show a lack of curiosity about children’s lives and do not consider the presenting risks quickly enough. “For a small number of children who have been the subject of repeated concerns, opportunities to intervene are not always taken at the earliest opportunity.

"This creates delay in some children and families receiving support.

“Once the decision is made that children require statutory services, there is delay for some children in this work being picked up by assessment teams.

“This puts pressure on those social workers to try and see children in a timely way. This is not always achieved.

It adds: “The current arrangements do not ensure that all children who are vulnerable to exploitation and abuse are effectively identified and protected.

"This is compounded by a lack of joint and integrated working and collaboration, which hinders agencies from understanding and responding to risk. As a result, some children are left in situations of risk.

Elaine Redding, the councils’ interim director of children’s services, said: “We accept the findings by Ofsted, following a focused visit to evaluate the multi-agency ‘front door’ arrangements, and agree on the areas identified for improvement.

"Since the end of last year, I have looked forensically at every area of our service and how we work with our partners.

"This allowed the council to proactively identify where practice is good and where there needs to be rapid improvement.

"Nothing in this letter from Ofsted has come as a surprise.

"We will focus on these critical areas for improvement in the coming months to improve this service, partnership working and the overall support we offer children, young people and families in the city as quickly as possible.

"We will and must do better."