Chief inspectors slam councils' CSE failings

The rebuke has come from Ofsted chief inspector Sir Michael Wilshaw and HMIC’s Wendy Williams as they start to prepare for the launch of joint inspections of child protection across police, health, probation and social care services this autumn.

Key concerns from Ofsted and HMIC are poor sharing of information and lack of monitoring and data gathering about children at risk and those missing from home or care.

Wilshaw was particularly concerned that in half of recent single inspection reports into children’s services there was a failure to carry out robust return interviews of children who had run away or ensure they were carried out by an independent person.

He said: “I remain concerned, a full two years after Ofsted published a detailed report into missing children – among some of the most vulnerable to exploitation – that this issue has not been given the priority it deserves by some local authorities and partners.
 
“It is particularly worrying that many local authorities are unable to provide Ofsted with data about missing children in their area.”

He added that councils’ work around children who go missing is being given an added focus in the single inspection reports it carries out. Where councils are failing to gather and share information “we will state this clearly and unequivocally”, he warned.

Williams backed Wilshaw’s criticisms: “Independent return interviews can provide a wealth of information about the reasons why they are running away, particularly where this is becoming more frequent and the child is reluctant to speak to police or other agencies."

She added that while police forces had invested in "improving response to risk” related to missing children and CSE “there is more to do on a collaborative, multi-agency basis”.

HMIC is currently inspecting forces’ CSE and missing children procedures and will report its findings in the autumn.

The criticism came after Wilshaw, Williams and Simon Bailey, National Police Chief Council (NPCC) CSE lead, held the first in their regular joint meetings leading up to the launch of joint inspections, a consultation on which is set to take place next month. This is also set to have a strong focus on monitoring local efforts to tackle CSE.