Children’s services in Knowsley have “not improved” since 2017, according to an Ofsted inspection report.
The inspection, which was carried out in October, found “continuing weaknesses in the quality of practice” for children receiving social care services in the borough.
For care leavers the situation has “deteriorated” according to the report, which rated Knowsley ’s services overall as “requiring improvement.”
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Serious problems with Knowsley’s children’s services were first identified in 2014, when the quality of provision was deemed “inadequate” following an Ofsted visit.
Although improvements were made, leading the watchdog to upgrade the service to “requires improvement” in 2017, inspectors said there has been little progress since.
Key issues identified included weaknesses in domestic abuse services leading in some cases to delays in taking action to protect children from risk of harm.
The report said that the council “places too much responsibility on mothers to take action to protect their children.”
The report was also critical of work carried out by social workers to understand children’s lived experiences and noted this was not always “purposeful" and added: “This means that it is not always clear if social workers really understand if children’s lives are improving because of the support that is provided.”
Assessments of children and families were often lacking thorough analysis of needs and risks with child protection plans for children in need failing to focus on measuring whether there are any improvements in their lives.
Problems with management were also identified, with the report noting that oversight “does not ensure progress for children is achieved.”
The way disabled children are moved from children to adult services was also subject to criticism, with inspectors noting this happens too late, leaving uncertainty about the future for families and young people.
Inspectors said problems with private fostering arrangements remain unaddressed despite being flagged up at two previous inspections, with systems to ensure regular reviews described as “poor.”
Homeless 16 and 17-year-olds in the borough are also given “insufficient help” in relation to social care, according to the report, despite these children’s high level of vulnerability.
While some aspects of the service were deemed good, overall inspectors found it continued to “require improvement” with several recommendations put forward for the council to address to improve provision for some of the borough’s most vulnerable children.
Responding to the publication of the inspection report earlier this month, Cllr Margaret Harvey, Knowsley Council Cabinet Member for Children’s Services said: “Naturally, we want our services for children to be the very best that they possibly can be, and this is something we continue to work on as a major priority.
“We have been on a significant improvement journey in recent years and striving to make further improvements remains a key priority for us.
“Since our last inspection, we have implemented new processes and procedures and made significant changes to our Management Team.
“We have ensured that we have protected budgets as well as ploughing investment into the service and our focus now is on driving forward further improvements which result in positive outcomes and improve the lives of our children and families.
“Our staff are pivotal to the services we provide and ensuring they are listened to and supported has been a key priority for us – something the inspectors also highlighted.
“Clearly the challenges that COVID-19 has placed on us has impacted on our improvement journey and our priority was to support our children and families during this incredibly difficult time.
“It also meant that during this time, we were unable to dedicate the time and resources to continue with our improvement journey.
“However, Inspectors did note that council and partner agencies worked well together to ensure children were kept safe.
“Our focus is resolutely on this major priority and on working harder than ever for our children and young people.”
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