Children in care in Hull at risk, inspectors find

Hull City Council said it was spending an extra £4.4m on children's services

Failings at a council's children services has left young people in care "at risk", an Ofsted report has found.

Hull City Council was rated inadequate in May 2019 and the watchdog said services had "deteriorated since the last inspection".

Inspectors said they had to directly intervene after they identified children at risk during their visit.

The council said it is spending an extra £4.4m on the service and is appointing a new director.

Ofsted visited the authority this month after an adviser was appointed by the government last summer in an attempt to improve the service.

They found the number of children in care in Hull had been rising at a rate of double the national average and there was "not enough local homes for children in care to suit their needs".

"Too many children come into care in an emergency even though many of these children are known to services. Some children do not come into care quickly enough, leaving them at risk at home," the report said.

'Huge blow'

Inspectors added: "Risks to children are not well identified or well managed.

"A poor understanding of child exploitation and risks outside the family, and an absence of multi-agency strategy discussions result in weak responses to children who are vulnerable to exploitation.

"Children who have gone missing multiple times continue to be at risk of harm."

Labour leader of the council Stephen Brady described the report as a "huge blow".

"On behalf of the council, I sincerely apologise that these essential services are not achieving the high standards required and want to reassure our residents that our top priority is to improve them," he said.

The council said it had "taken immediate steps to address the concerns raised during the inspection".

The director of children's services has left the council and a new head is set to arrive over the next few weeks, a spokeswoman said.