Southampton City Council apologises for 'risky' children's care

An inspector found "risky decision-making" by Southampton City Council in 13 cases involving children

An inspector has found "risky decision-making" and a "sense of chaos" at a children's social care department following a whistle-blowing complaint.

The Unite union filed a grievance on behalf of 31 Southampton City Council workers in January.

No children remained in immediate danger although one was brought into care when the staff complaint was received, the inspector said.

The council said it apologised for the failings highlighted in the report.

Independent inspector Malcolm Newsam upheld the union's complaint of "poor and dangerous decision-making" in 13 out of 21 cases involving children.

He said: "Senior managers... ignored the best advice of multi-agency meetings designed to ensure that children are kept safe and... potentially placed a significant amount of risk upon themselves and the council."

Union shop steward Hayley Garner filed a whistle-blowing complaint on behalf of 31 staff

Mr Newsam said the removal of peripatetic teams left some particularly vulnerable children with no allocated social worker.

He added staff had reported a "sense of chaos" and a "culture of fear".

However, he found no "substantial evidence" that agency workers were instructed to close as many cases as possible without proper assessments, as the union had claimed.

The council has appointed a new children's services director and made significant changes to the leadership team, he said.

Unite shop steward Hayley Garner said: "We always believed that a fair and robust investigation would uphold our complaints."

The authority did not confirm if any employee had been sacked as a result of the investigation, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

Chief executive Sandy Hopkins said: "I want to apologise unreservedly on behalf of Southampton City Council for the failings highlighted in the report.

"While it is disappointing to hear that these concerns have been raised before and have not been addressed, as a new team we are committed that this time it will be different."