Ofsted’s Annual Report says signs of child abuse still missed

November 24, 2009 by Shawn Douglas
Filed under: News

Ofsted, the UK’s child care regulator, issued its Annual Report today which revealed that the number of abuse and neglect cases remain comparable to last year.

Following on the heels of strong criticism by the Local Government Association, Ofsted released its Annual Report today, citing that 414 children were killed or injured in abuse or neglect cases between September 2008 and August 2009. Ofsted indicated that the number of reported cases was about the same when compared to the previous 12-month period.

Additionally, the report highlighted the quality of case reviews, stating that nearly a third of all such reviews didn’t adequately “identify and report signs of abuse.” The report stated that factors such as abuse of alcohol and drugs by parents or mental impairments in either parents or children “were often not properly taken into account.”

“Whilst most local authorities are providing good services to protect vulnerable children, there are still too many that are inadequate in this vital respect,” said Christine Gilbert, Ofsted’s chief inspector.

“If practice for protecting children is poor, the consequences can be devastating.”

Dawn Primarolo, the U.K.’s Children’s Minister, agreed with Ofsted, suggesting that expectations should be higher.

“Ofsted has rightly raised the bar on what they expect of children’s services,” Primarolo told the Telegraph.

“The Government has intervened in five authorities expected to be judged to be ‘performing poorly’ this year — including using statutory powers where it was right to do so — and we are working robustly with each council to challenge and support them in turning around their children’s services quickly,” she added.

Christine Gilbert followed up the Ofsted report with an article published in the Guardian today, emphasizing both the positive and negative aspects of Ofsted’s findings. The Local Government Association strongly condemned Ofsted before the report was issued.

“The LGA believes Ofsted has become too concerned about protecting its own reputation and places a disproportionate emphasis on publicly highlighting weaknesses in child protection without adequately reflecting the huge amount of good work being done by councils across the country,” said the LGA statement.

“These increases are putting the systems which protect children under extra pressure and making it harder to identify the children at the greatest risk of harm,” the LGA report added.

However, Gilbert fired back in the Guardian, stating that while the report “has some really positive findings”, there are equally concerning issues that must to be addressed. “Ofsted must not pull its punches,” said Gilbert, “and there should be no hiding place for poor practice.”

“I understand that child protection is a sensitive and emotive area, and I know that the pressure on individual directors of children’s services and their local authorities is intense,” she wrote.

“But Ofsted must not shy away from expressing our findings when we see shortcomings, even if this is uncomfortable for the professionals delivering services and the bodies that represent their interests. We would be failing in our duty if we did not highlight both what works and where improvements are needed.”