Gloucestershire Council boss apologises after abuse review

Gloucestershire County Council apologised "unreservedly" after the Child X review

A children's services boss has apologised over failures which led to a child being abused by her carer.

A safeguarding review earlier this month raised concerns over the lack of supervision, safety and quality of care of Child X, who was 15 at the time.

The teenager, who cannot be named, also became pregnant while in care.

At a Gloucestershire County Council meeting the councillor in charge of child services said mistakes had been acknowledged and action taken.

The Lib Dem opposition group told the full council meeting on Wednesday the review flagged a number of systematic failures within the authority as whole, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

The report earlier this month said in Child X's case, there was no basic safety, she was sexually abused, had access to cannabis and tobacco and absconded at times.

Stephen Davies, children's safeguarding cabinet member for the ruling Conservative group, apologised during the meeting at Shire Hall.

"I would like to apologise unreservedly - both personally and on behalf of children's services - to all of those involved," he said.

"This is a complex case involving a very troubled child. Children's services have acknowledged mistakes and taken action to address the issues raised.

"However, it should not be forgotten this was a crime committed by a manipulative individual who has been charged, tried and sentenced to 44 months."

The council has accepted the report's findings in full

The Lib Dems asked when council leaders were first made aware of the issues related to the girl and why opposition and scrutiny leads were not informed.

Mr Davies said there was no consultation with other leaders at that time because it was the subject of a serious case review.

He explained it was a complex case and Child X had been involved in 30 placements which had broken down.

"We had built a unique-to-Gloucestershire specific provision for her," he said.

"This is not a case where a child was put into one of our normal care homes or fostering situations and then put at risk."

'Worries every day'

"What happened is not the result of a criminal gang," said Labour councillor John Bloxsom.

"It's the result of people we have commissioned and paid to provide a service to a young person."

Mr Davies said the council "worries every day" about the safety of the county's children in care.

He said the council had not fixed the children's services - which have been rated inadequate by Ofsted - but that it was on a journey of improvement.

The Lib Dems proposed referring the issue to a scrutiny committee to establish a task group to look at the various failures raised in the report.

The council agreed and said it would be referred to the Children and Families Overview and Scrutiny Committee and they would decide how to review the issues highlighted by the report.