Rotherham children's services rated 'inadequate'

The struggling Yorkshire council – at the centre of a recent child sexual exploitation (CSE) scandal – was judged by Ofsted to be inadequate in the three key areas of child protection, looked-after children and permanence, and leadership and management.

The progress made by care leavers was also judged inadequate, while adoption performance was rated “requires improvement”.

The inspection, carried out between 16 September and 8 October, was ordered in response to concerns raised in the independent Jay report about the council’s failure to properly tackle, alongside other agencies, CSE in the town over a 16-year period.

Revelations in the Jay report led to the resignation of director of children’s services (DCS) Joyce Thacker, the area’s police and crime commissioner Shaun Wright and council chief executive Martin Kimber.

Ian Thomas, currently Derbyshire DCS, is to take over children’s services at Rotherham in January.

The previous Ofsted inspections in 2010 and 2012 had judged Rotherham’s safeguarding and adoption services to be “adequate”, but the latest report says efforts to address areas identified then as in urgent need of improvement have stalled or been too slow, and in some cases practice has gone backwards.

The failure to effectively identify and challenge deteriorating performance or act on previous inspection recommendations is highlighted by the latest Ofsted inspection. It found “a clear lack of leadership and accountability” for children’s services in Rotherham, exacerbated by the lack of a permanent DCS.

Partnership working in child protection, particularly between the police and council, is described as “ineffective”. It says the co-location of the council’s contact, assessment and referral team; CSE service; and multi-agency safeguarding hub has yet to deliver improvements in identifying risk to children.

There is also poor oversight by senior managers of frontline social work practice, which the report describes as “not robust”.

Social workers are holding caseloads that are too high, it adds, and see children too infrequently, with many not having access to up-to-date records.

Inspectors referred 13 cases back to the authority because of serious concerns, while the council found seven out of 18 cases it audited were inadequate.  

Rotherham was one of eight councils to have its CSE arrangements inspected by Ofsted recently as part of a thematic review, and the concerns raised in that report – that some councils are failing to meet statutory guidance to adequately protect children at risk of CSE – are mirrored in the inspection findings.

Looked-after children wait too long for permanent homes and too many are placed out-of-authority due to a shortage of local placements, the report says. In addition, children return home from care without sufficient planning or support.

Ofsted has made 26 recommendations for improvement across the service, including securing effective leadership across the department.

In a statement, the council said it “fully accepted” the report’s findings, and said it would be used as a “benchmark against which to secure improvement”.

Jane Parfrement, director of safeguarding children and families, and currently acting DCS, said: “I am very clear that given the issues in Rotherham we will not achieve everything overnight, change must be comprehensive and sustainable and this will take time. However immediate action has been taken to ensure our basic child protection systems are strengthened and an improvement plan is being drafted which will be overseen by an improvement board to challenge us and ensure we stay on course.”

Last month, the government appointed Malcolm Newsam as independent children’s commissioner for Rotherham. A corporate governance inspection, led by troubled families tsar Louise Casey is also ongoing.

The Rotherham Council-commissioned Jay report estimated that between 1997 and 2013, 1,400 children and young people had been subject to organised sexual abuse.

A report published yesterday by the communities and local government committee, revealed that the council is undertaking an independent review of practice and staffing issues raised by the Jay report.