A joint inspection by Ofsted, the Care Quality Commission, and the police and probation inspectorates, found that when children are assessed they are too often either not offered appropriate support or their cases are closed too early.
The inspectors, who were assessing the multi-agency "front door" for child protection - the point at which children at risk become known to local services - found that children face long waits for counselling support.
Inspectors also raised concerns over a lack of parenting programmes and other initiatives aimed at offering long-term help for families where neglect is present.
While the inspection team welcomed the setting up of a multi-agency safeguarding hub (Mash) to assess child protection concerns, they were concerned that decisions were mainly taken by social workers and rarely involved other partners, such as health and youth justice. Strategy discussions relating to the Mash mainly involved police and social workers only, the inspectors found.
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