Children’s services at Wigan Council are under ‘huge pressures’ due to ‘underfunding and staffing shortages’, bosses have claimed following an Ofsted inspection stating they ‘required improvement’. Response to domestic abuse concerns being 'not sufficiently robust' and child-protection plans not being specific enough were highlighted by inspectors back in May.
The report, published in July, also suggested that assessments of the 'immediate risk of harm' to children was 'not as quick as it could be'. However it did go on to say that it was mostly recognised well and responded to promptly.
“This means that some children are not protected as quickly as they could be, and, in a small number of cases, social workers complete visits and develop safety plans prior to a multi-agency discussion to agree next steps,” the report said.
