Government education minister Nadhim Zahawi has appointed a commissioner to lead Sefton Council's Children’s Services department following a highly critical Ofsted report.
Mr Zahawi has appointed Paul Moffat as Commissioner for Children’s Services in Sefton. Mr Moffat will lead a plan to improve the department.
The appointment follows an Ofsted report earlier this year that found the department was 'inadequate' across all criteria. The report read: "Services to children and families in Sefton Metropolitan Borough Council are inadequate.
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"Over a long period, the political and executive leadership has not secured the structures, systems and processes to keep an effective single line of oversight of children’s services."
The report found that Sefton Council had failed to improve services after serious failures were identified by Ofsted in 2019 and 2021. It continued: "This inspection has identified both serious and widespread failures in core areas of social work practice including assessment, planning, and management oversight.
"There is insufficient capacity across the workforce to secure a timely and appropriate response for children. As a result, some children are left with inadequate protection, and experience delays in having their needs met, including the need for timely permanence."
Ofsted's findings and the appointment of a government commissioner has led to a major political row in Sefton.
Councillor Mike Prendergast, leader of Sefton's Conservative Party, said: "It is appalling that the Children’s Social Services department at Sefton Council has received the lowest possible rating from Ofsted in the report issued last month.
"For many, many years the department has been allowed to decline to the stage it now finds itself in. Therefore, I can understand why the Secretary of State has taken the decision to appoint a Children’s Commissioner to urgently assess whether Sefton Council, and it’s political and executive leadership, have the capacity and capability to quickly turn the department round.
"I and many other opposition members have long been calling for changes in management and structure within the department. Ofsted, in their report, have made it clear that there have been failures in the political and executive leadership within the department.
"It is unacceptable that children in Sefton have been so badly let down for so long.
"I now hope that the Children’s Commissioner gets the full cooperation of all those involved with the running of the department at Sefton Council to ensure that a full and proper assessment of the capacity for change within the department is undertaken.
"Children only get one childhood and we can’t afford to let vulnerable children continue to be let down by an inadequate children social services department."
John Pugh, leader of Sefton's Liberal Democrats, said: "The Ofsted report points criticism of council leadership at the political and executive level and the council accept the report, but no-one individually accepts responsibility for on-going and chronic failure- certainly not the Labour administration.
"It is only luck that has kept Sefton out of the sort of headlines that a Baby P type episode generates. In all these tragic high profile cases you have the same buck passing for service deficiencies that Ofsted have identified in Sefton."
Councillor Mhairi Doyle, Cabinet Member for Children’s Social Care, said: “In his letter to Sefton Council the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Children and Families said that he recognises the challenges that local authorities face in delivering effective children’s social care services.
“These challenges have been magnified over the last 2 years, with demand for Children’s Services at unprecedented levels.
“It is no secret that most local authorities continue to face severe financial challenges. We have made a call on Government, along with leaders from across the Liverpool City Region, to tackle growing issues nationally with the recruitment and retention of children’s social workers as these present a significant challenge not just in our region, but across other parts of the country.
“I hope that the Commissioner is able to appreciate how this compounds an already difficult operating environment, and I look forward to working with them to tackle the many challenges we face, so that children in Sefton benefit from the best services possible, making sure they are safe, protected and inspired to reach their full potential.”
Martin Birch, Director of Children’s Services and Education at Sefton Council said: “We welcome the appointment of a commissioner, and appreciate the support and challenge that this role will bring.
“Since the Ofsted inspection was carried out, we have already started to work on the feedback in the report, and are developing an improvement action plan which will be published late Summer this year.
“We understand that the Commissioner will review our plans and capacity to improve and will work alongside the DfE Advisor who has been in place since July 2021.
“The next step will be to continue working with our Improvement Board and support from the Department of Education (DfE) to deliver our action plan to address the recommendations made. The DfE are supporting the Council with resources and advisors, and a review of our capacity will be undertaken by the DfE during 2022.
“Of course, there is still much work to, but we are confident that with our committed workforce, and the significant financial investment that the Council has recently committed to Children’s Services, our ambitious plans can be delivered, and improvements made at pace.
“We are hopeful that the commissioner will see a marked improvement in the delivery of our services each time they visit.”
