Child Protection inquiry
Closed
What the inquiry looked at
“The Department for Education recognised since 2010 that child protection services are not good enough but its subsequent response has not yet resulted in better outcomes. Spending on children's social work, including on child protection, varies widely across England and is not related to quality. Neither the DfE nor authorities understand why spending varies. The actions taken by the Department for Education since 2010 to improve the quality of help and protection services delivered by local authorities for children have not yet resulted in services being of good enough quality, according to the National Audit Office. Demand for help or protection is rising. As of 31 March 2015, 3% (391,000) of children under the age of 18 in England were assessed as being in need of help or protection. In 2013–14, there were 2.3 million initial contacts (up 65% since 2007–08). Over the past ten years there has been a 124% increase in serious cases where the local authority believes a child may be suffering, or likely to suffer, significant harm. The most common risks to a child’s welfare are domestic violence and mental health concerns. National Audit Office Report The recent NAO report analysis found that spending on children's social work, including on child protection, varies widely across England and is not related to quality. Average spending on a child in need—£2,300 per year—has increased slightly over the last three years. Average reported spending on social work in 2014–15 ranged from an estimated spend of £340 per child in need in one authority to £4,970 per child in need in another. Neither the Department for Education nor authorities understand why spending varies. Nationally the quality of help and protection for children is unsatisfactory and inconsistent, suggesting systemic rather than just local failure. Ofsted has found that almost 80% of authorities it has inspected since 2013 are not yet providing services rated as Good to help or protect children. Good performance is not related to levels of deprivation, region, numbers of children or the amount spent on children in need. Ofsted will not complete the current inspection cycle until the end of 2017, a year later than originally planned. The Department does not therefore have up-to-date assurance on the quality of services for 32% of local authorities.”
The committee's words, from the inquiry page on parliament.uk ↗.
What it found
Children in need of help or support are, by definition, among the most vulnerable members of our society, often facing neglect or abuse. But, for far too long, services for the nearly 800,000 children in need of help or protection every year have not been good enough. In 2010, the Department for Education recognised that services had to improve and started to introduce a series of reforms. In 2011, the Munro review on improving the child protection system was published. But progress on improving help and protection services for children has been too slow and six years later only 23% of services are judged by Ofsted as Good. By no standards can this be seen as an improvement.
The Department seemed to us worryingly complacent that nothing can be done to improve services more quickly. The Department’s newly stated ambition to improve services by 2020 is welcome but the Department lacks a credible plan for how and by when it will make a difference and ensure that local authorities are intervening effectively to make a difference to these children’s lives. The Committee will continue to monitor the Department’s slow progress in improving children’s services and will return to the subject during the course of this Parliament.
What the government said
No government response is linked to this report.
How the inquiry ran
Each dot is a dated item listed on this page, from the inquiry's opening on 12 October 2016 to its close on 4 January 2018.
- Oral evidence 31 Oct 2016
- Report 16 Dec 2016
- Correspondence 10 Oct 2017
What it recommended
The committee's recommendations are not listed here yet. Read them in 31st Report - Child protection ↗ on parliament.uk.
Evidence
Oral evidence sessions 1
- 31 Oct 2016No witnesses recordedparliament.uk ↗