Figures released today from 2009-10 show that there were 90 deaths recorded in the 147 serious case reviews involving 194 children completed between April 2009 and March 2010 compared with 174 deaths from the 173 reviews involving 219 children in 2008-09.
The evaluation also shows a marked improvement in the quality of serious case reviews, which are carried out by local safeguarding children boards.
Of the reviews, 42 per cent were judged good compared with 23 per cent last year, while 42 per cent were adequate and 16 per cent were deemed inadequate compared to 34 per cent last year.
Baroness Shireen Ritchie, chairman of the Local Government Association’s Children and Young People Board, said: "The death of even one child is one too many. The number of cases of this type being reported to Ofsted is down by nearly 50 per cent compared to the previous 12 months but there is no room for complacency. Dedicated social workers, who are part of the solution not the problem, have protected tens of thousands of vulnerable children at a time when their workload has been growing.
"Councils are working tirelessly to improve how they identify and protect children at risk from neglect and abuse, and an outside perspective does help. When things tragically go wrong they need to be examined. There is important work to be done within the police and NHS as well as at a local government level, and Ofsted also has a role to play in making things better."
Ofsted’s examination of the serious case reviews reveals recurring shortcomings in child protection practice in incidents involving the death or serious injury of a child where abuse is known to be a factor.
Failure to implement and ensure good practice despite established frameworks and guidance, lack of understanding of families’ needs and insufficient consideration of the child’s views were all problems identified in the reviews.
The report found that of the 194 children covered in the reviews, 119 children were known to children’s social care services at the time of the incident; 90 children were receiving services as children in need, of which 49 were the subject of child protection plans. Thirty-one of the children who had died were receiving children in need services.
Christine Gilbert, Ofsted’s chief inspector, said: "There is a positive trend in how serious case reviews are being conducted and it is encouraging to see that more reviews are being judged good with fewer reviews inadequate. The case studies highlight the complexities of the situations which social workers and others are responding to.
"In undertaking these reviews, agencies have been able to reflect on what happened and learn from their experience. They have identified gaps in their approach and most important, have agreed actions to improve the protection of children and so reduce the chances of such serious incidents from happening again."
