Nottingham City Council children's services rated inadequate

A city council's children's services have been been rated inadequate, with "serious failures" identified by inspectors.

Ofsted assessed Nottingham City Council's children's services between 4 and 22 July.

They were previously rated as "requires improvement" but that has since been downgraded.

The authority has apologised and pledged to do "whatever it takes to improve".

Ofsted said a visit in February 2020 found "priority action" was needed around support for children with child protection or child-in-need plans.

An Ofsted report said progress had been "slow and uneven", hampered by the pandemic and "the tragic death of a senior manager".

It stated some services had deteriorated, especially when children are first identified as potentially being in need of help and protection.

Ofsted said weaknesses in the authority's multi-agency safeguarding hub (MASH) were "significant, widespread and systemic", with some children waiting up to six weeks to be seen by a social worker.

Inspectors said return home interviews for children who had been missing were often done "without sufficient analysis of the circumstances" and with outcomes "not specific to the child".

The watchdog said more social workers were needed to help children and young people, and called for greater support for people aged over 21 who leave care, and better monitoring of children who are absent from school.

However, the report added: "In the last six months, a new senior management team has been established for children's social care.

"This team has a sound understanding of the challenges it faces and has already delivered some improvements and positive culture shifts."

Councillor Cheryl Barnard, portfolio holder for children, young people and schools, said: "I am sorry that some children are not getting the right help at the right time and I accept that our overall performance is not where it should be.

"Please be assured that everyone in our children's services team is committed to providing the best possible care in our city - and will do whatever it takes to improve."

The council said Ofsted would return for a number of monitoring visits before a full re-inspection.

Follow BBC East Midlands on Facebook, on Twitter, or on Instagram. Send your story ideas to [email protected].