CYP Now - North Somerset: Vulnerable childrens' needs secondary to parents', Ofsted finds

Inspectors have criticised children’s services at North Somerset Council for putting children’s needs and the assessment of risk for some young people “secondary” to the needs of parents.

North Somerset Council is based in Weston-super-Mare. Picture: Adobe Stock

In a letter to the authority following a focused visit on 7 and 8 December, Ofsted said there had been “little progress” in the quality of social work practice to improve the experiences for children in need of help and protection since its last inspection in March 2020.

At the time, the inspectorate handed down its second lowest rating to the authority judging its children’s services as “requires improvement to be good”.

Following the most recent visit, inspectors identified “weaknesses” in social work practice, management oversight and supervision.

While no children were found to be at immediate risk of harm, child protection plans were too wide-ranging and lacked timescales and contingency measures to ensure progress, the letter says.

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