Sefton Council has been slammed for not being "consistently effective" when dealing with child sexual and criminal exploitation as well as a variety of other issues.
The local authority has been deemed inadequate by the Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills (Ofsted). The report is opened by explaining that there has been a "significant deterioration" of the children's services offered by the council following the last inspection in 2016.
Following a joint area inspection in September 2019 and a focused visit in March 2021, weaknesses in child protection practices and management oversight. The report claims "the council and senior leaders have not sufficiently understood these failures or taken the necessary actions to improve services for children".
