'No quick fixes' for Herefordshire's failing children's services

Children's services in Herefordshire have been rated inadequate by inspectors

There will be no quick fixes for a failing children's services, a government-appointed commissioner said.

Eleanor Brazil was hired to examine issues in Herefordshire where "widespread and serious failures" have been identified in safeguarding.

She told the county's councillors there was "no one thing that will make a difference" and she had "come with no assumptions" as to possible solutions.

She will make recommendations to the government by the end of the year.

Herefordshire Council's children's services were inspected for three weeks in July

Ms Brazil was appointed following a damning Ofsted report into services at Herefordshire Council.

Inspector Lisa Summers found services "fragmented and chaotic" with poor practices and high staff turnover leaving children "not protected from harm".

At a meeting on Thursday, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said Ms Brazil addressed councillors and said improvements "won't happen over a period of a few months".

"I will also want to know what is happening to children and families newly coming to the service for support," she said. "We don't want to compound the situation by getting it wrong for those children and their families.

"I will also look at what remedial work that the service will be taking in relation to those children whose experience of the council has not been as good as it should have been."

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She said there were "a limited range of options" to improve services and that she would be reporting to the education secretary Kit Malthouse by the end of the year.

The council has previously apologised for the "long-standing" and "deep-rooted" failings.

"We have to get this right," said council leader John Harrington. "Nothing else counts, in terms of politics or policies, other than getting this right."