A focused visit to check on the progress of "front door" child protection responses at Middlesbrough Council, which was rated "requires improvement" in February 2016, found that while immediate child protection issues are responded to well, the response to lower levels of risk is "too variable".
A report on the visit states that the council has not been able to secure the full commitment of partner agencies, resulting in "far too many low-level children's cases are being inappropriately sent to statutory children's services to resolve matters".
As a result, the report states, front door services are not going far enough to get the overall understanding of children's needs necessary for successful intervention in complex situations.
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