Ofsted calls for action on assessments at 'inadequate' council

Ofsted's latest monitoring visit of Tower Hamlets children's services, which it rated as "inadequate" last year, found that in June 160 children did not have an updated assessment - representing more than half the authority's care population.

A letter sent by the inspectorate to the authority said: "Assessments for children in care are not updated routinely, and too often, when cases are in court, the assessments focus on concerns about the parents."

While inspectors agreed the borough had made improvements since a previous visit in May, it warned services still demonstrated "considerable weaknesses" in assessments for children who cannot live with their parents and in permanence planning.

Ofsted handed Tower Hamlets Council's children services its lowest rating in April 2017 after inspectors found it was leaving children in abusive situations for too long and leaders were failing to improve support for children.

The latest visit found the council had made no progress in completing initial health assessments within set timescales when children came into care. Inspectors found it had concluded only 22 per cent of such screenings on time - the same rate as in 2017.

"Many of these children have suffered abuse and neglect," the report warned.

"This means that their immediate health needs are not understood quickly enough."