'Significant concerns' over Anglesey's children's services

Care and support for vulnerable children on Anglesey "must be improved" with the council lacking staff to deal with issues, a report has found.

The Care and Social Services Inspectorate Wales (CSSIW) made inspections in November 2016.

It wants the council to produce an improvement plan within 20 days, saying care and support needed to be quicker.

The council said it was "committed to making a real and positive difference to the lives of children".

The CSSIW said the council was experiencing a "significant period of change" when the inspection took place.

'Significant concerns'

While it said Anglesey council was responsive when a child might be at risk, "referral information received from partners was poor".

The report added: "All staff were clearly committed to improving the lives of the children and families they worked with but teams did not have sufficient capacity, experience or senior management support to effectively deliver good quality outcomes for children and families.

"Management oversight of decision-making was insufficient."

The council's improvement plan will be monitored with another inspection in 2018.

In response, the council pledged to make "significant improvements".

Assistant chief executive and director of social services, Dr Caroline Turner, said: "Each and every staff member in our children's services is committed to improving the lives of the children and families they worked with.

"Clearly, however, this report raises significant concerns about the service we currently provide children, young people and their families.

"We are committed to meeting our obligations to them and will continue to work with colleagues at the CSSIW and partner organisations to ensure continued improvement in services for children and families."