Tameside child services ordered to improve by government

Ofsted inspectors said children's services in Tameside had continued to put children at risk

A children's services department has been ordered to improve by the government after a report found it continued to put children at risk.

Ofsted inspectors found child services in Tameside had "deteriorated" and uncovered a "systemic delay" in dealing with cases.

The department has been rated "requires improvement" since 2019.

Tameside Council said it was "fully committed" to ensuring children were given "the best possible start".

In April, Ofsted found children were being left in "circumstances of unassessed risk for too long".

Inspectors also warned that political and corporate leaders did not know their service and the impact on children "well enough".

'Devastating report'

Labour MP Andrew Gwynne has called for the department to be taken out of council control and placed with an independent trust.

He said the service was "letting children and families down".

Bill Fairfoull, the council's cabinet member for children's services, said the authority had "no intention whatsoever" of handing its services to a trust, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

But he said the government's improvement notice would bring the local authority additional support, which he saw as a positive step.

He said the notice would be in place for a year or "as long as it takes to get to a good situation", adding that the council was "fully committed to getting it right".

An appointed improvement advisor will now work with the department and Tameside Council said it would also ask Stockport Council for support.

Council leader Ged Cooney said: "That report is devastating and we have got to accept that".

"I do hope that going forward we as a collective move as one because it is the children in the borough that will have the damage done to them if we do not sort our problem out," Mr Cooney added.

Why not follow BBC North West on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram? You can also send story ideas to [e-mail]