Loughton said the government would step in, unless the council makes major improvements to services protecting vulnerable children. His criticism comes after damning reports into aspects of children’s services at the council.
An inspection carried out by Ofsted in September 2011 found that, overall, safeguarding services in Waltham Forest were "adequate", but services for looked-after children were judged to be "inadequate".
Furthermore, in its annual assessment published in November, the overall performance of the council’s children’s services was rated as "poor".
Following discussions between Department for Education officials and the council, Loughton issued an improvement notice to the council.
Councillor Marie Pye, cabinet member for children and young people in Waltham Forest, said: "The appointment of a new chair to the safeguarding board is just one of a number of changes to management that are being made. We are confident that we can raise standards of practice and provide a greatly improved service to residents in the future.
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