A focused visit by Ofsted to Bury Council's children's services in July has found that early support for children is blighted by a lack of scrutiny, which means the council does not fully understand its weaknesses.
A key concern is that assessments of families in need of early help are not taking into account long-term histories when considering current concerns.
In the case of one child, this approach led to the withdrawal of statutory support despite multiple risk factors remaining, including sexual abuse in the family, drug misuse and mental ill health.
"In this case, multiple subsequent contacts led to safeguarding services and legal action," states Ofsted's letter to the council following its visit.
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