Council performance 2008 - a guide to your area

Tens of thousands of children are at risk of abuse and neglect, with a quarter of councils providing inadequate or minimal services for young people, the Audit Commission reveals today.

Even wealthy authorities are not immune to the widespread deterioration in children’s services. The rating of Surrey, one of the country’s most affluent councils, fell to the bottom of the local government watchdog’s league table after failing its children.

The performance league tables show that the standard of children’s services fell across England last year. Only 13 councils showed improvement; the ratings of 22 fell. Surrey was joined at the bottom of the table by Haringey, which was embroiled in the Baby P scandal last year; Doncaster, where seven children have died in three years through abuse or neglect; and Milton Keynes, which was criticised for its poor education and complacent management.

Forty of the 149 councils assessed by the children’s watchdog Ofsted provided either inadequate or the bare minimum of children’s services, which covers education, social care and child protection. The number achieving the full four stars fell from twelve in 2007 to nine in 2008. Children’s services was the only area where more councils declined than improved.

A common weakness was failing to implement legislation requiring all staff working with children to have criminal record checks. Several councils were also slow to put children on the at-risk register, to assign a social worker or to place a young person with an adopted or foster parent, said a spokesman for Ofsted.

In other areas, education results were poor, too few children went on to further education or there were high levels of teenage pregnancy.

Christine Gilbert, the Ofsted Chief Inspector, said that the worst-performing councils were improving services but that she could not guarantee children’s safety until they were reassessed.

Doncaster, where a government review has been ordered, said that the picture had changed significantly since Ofsted finished its review last March. “We’re in a very different place,” said Paul Gray, the director of children’s services, who was recruited last year. “There’s been a substantial increase in the number of social workers and we’ve cleared the backlog of cases.”

Claire Kober, the leader of Haringey, said: “We accept that things went badly wrong with child protection. We are committed to making things right.”

Surrey County Council has taken Ofsted to a judicial review over its rating. It pointed out that many of its other scores were high. “Children are better protected than 12 months ago,” said a spokesman.

Isobel McCall, the leader of Milton Keynes Council, attacked the Audit Commission’s “bizarre” methodology. “If you look at our other scores we have had our other services rated two or three stars,” she said. “Our rank overall is harsh and does not reflect where we are overall.” She was annoyed that the rating blurred the distinction between education and child protection, which was rated adequate.

The comprehensive performance assessment was introduced in 2002 to measure the effectiveness and value for money of local authorities. The areas assessed include housing, culture, the environment, benefits, adult social care, use of resources and corporate management. Use of resources and children’s services are weighted more heavily than the other categories.

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