Sefton Council's children’s services criticised for 'drift and delay'

Sefton Council acknowledged the shortcomings but insisted it had "taken steps to address them"

Inspectors have criticised Sefton Council for leaving children in high-risk situations for "too long".

The Ofsted report found "drift and delay" at the Merseyside council's children's services department.

Inspector Mandy Nightingale said too many children had been left in vulnerable environments.

The council has agreed a £7m investment in children's social care to cope with rising demand and said it had taken steps to address the concerns.

The Local Democracy Reporting Service said the inspection was carried out in March as part of Ofsted's work examining how the care system has coped with the Covid-19 pandemic.

While Ofsted praised the council's work during the pandemic, Ms Nightingale identified problems in decision making for children subject to child protection plans.

She said senior leaders "were not aware of the degree of drift and delay experienced by most children" while the quality of social work was "variable" and "too many social workers have high caseloads".

'Demand increasing'

However Ms Nightingale acknowledged the council and its partners' good work for "children in need or at risk of harm, in a town where deprivation is high".

But the report said recruitment continued to be a problem which meant social workers had to work weekends and evenings to keep up with their caseloads.

A spokeswoman for Sefton Council said: "As demand continues to increase for children's services, and with limited resources available to us, we accept that this can have an impact on the delivery of certain areas.

"As such we recognise there are opportunities for improvement highlighted in the report but are pleased that the report also acknowledged the effective response to children in need or at risk of harm in a town where deprivation is high."