Stoke-on-Trent City Council’s children’s services was handed the inspectorate’s lowest rating in March 2019 amid concerns about poor leadership and “ineffective management of risk”.
But a follow-up visit in February this year found a “lack of progress in improving social work practice”, according to a letter from Ofsted to the council.
This means that council leaders "cannot be assured that children in Stoke-on-Trent are safe”.
“Risk to children is not consistently identified and acted on,” adds the letter.
“The quality of social work assessments and children in need planning is poor. This leads to delays in ensuring that children have the right plans to meet their needs and results in plans that are difficult for parents to understand," it states.
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