Children still not protected by Bedfordshire

Vulnerable children are still not being protected by
Bedfordshire Council, according to a damning Social Services
Inspectorate report, writes Sally
Gillen.

It found that the zero-rated department’s children’s
services had a number of “deeply rooted” problems, and
the Victoria Climbie Inquiry “had not had a significant
impact on child protection”.

Services in child protection were weakened by poor supervision,
which “increased the likelihood that children would fall
through the net,” the report found.

Looked after children received “unsatisfactory” and
“inadequate” support from the council, and planning on
many cases was “non-existent”.

The report concludes that very little progress has been made to
address the “serious deficiencies” highlighted by a
similar inspection in June 2002, after which the department was
placed under special measures and intensive supervision by the
Social Services Inspectorate.