The inspection team, including representatives from Ofsted and health watchdog the Care Quality Commission, welcomed the move away from safeguarding arrangements with neighbouring areas to a place-based system focused on children in Blackpool.
This has enabled social care, health and police services to “become much more responsive to the very high levels of need and risk with the local population and children of Blackpool”, according to the inspection report on Blackpool Local Safeguarding Partnership.
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Action taken includes development of “high-quality” family support hubs offering universal and targeted support in local communities that are “easily accessible for children and their families”.
The approach has also resulted in “better collaboration” with schools to offer child protection training. This has improved the "quality and timeliness of the referrals” being made to support services.
The inspection team, which visited in November 2024, also included His Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS). They praised “effective” information sharing between children’s and adult services in the seaside town.
This “means that potentially vulnerable children in the care of adults who are also particularly vulnerable due to their own needs or behaviours are identified, including when these children may also be young carers”, said inspectors.
Complex needs of families in the town involving a multi-agency response include neglect of children and domestic abuse incidents.
Another challenge is the risk of child exploitation in the town. Inspectors welcomed the support victims received from Awaken, a specialist multi-disciplinary team focused on the issue.
They were particularly impressed with Awaken being available to young people up to the age of 24 and outreach support offered during the night and at weekends.
In addition, inspectors said that better collaboration with, and training for schools has "improved the quality and timeliness of the referrals they make".
However, "high levels of temporary and permanent exclusion in some schools reduce safeguards to children who are not in school".
Inspectors warn that the “scale and complexity of need in Blackpool can over time impact on the wellbeing of staff” and are concerned that “not all staff across the partnership are fully aware of welfare support schemes”.
They note though that health, children’s services and police leaders “reflected during the inspection the need to better incorporate this into their workforce offer”.
Another concern raised by inspectors was that police in the town are not consistently gathering and recording the views of children when attending incidents.
Action has also been taken to address this concern, note inspectors, who say that guidance has since been reissued by the police to ensure officers “record the voices of children”.
