Damning Ofsted Report Leads to Calls for Resignation

Ofsted have today published their Joint Area Review of Reading Borough’s Children’s Services which contains a series of damning statements including that “Safeguarding is inadequate due to significant weaknesses in fundamental elements of child protection and children’s social care”. This finding by Ofsted follows several high profile child abuse cases in recent years culminating in Haringey’s “Baby P” case at the end of last year and leaves Reading assessed as one of the worst authorities in the country for child protection.

Further damning comments in the report include:

 “The Local Safeguarding Children Board (LSCB) is largely ineffective.”

“Provision to reduce teenage conceptions is poorly co-ordinated and inadequate.”

“A lack of robust data is impeding planning and service development.  Sex and relationship education (SRE) is variable and advice on good sexual health is not reaching all young people.”

“…the [teenage pregnancy reduction] strategy is not fully funded nor underpinned by comprehensive service mapping or analysis of need.  As a result, services lack co-ordination and are still developing in isolation.”

“Performance management is inadequate” [JAR] page 21.

In December the Annual Performance Assessment also found under the heading “Staying Safe” that the Labour run Council’s procedures for “improving outcomes for children and young people were inadequate”. It further condemned the Council for having “underestimated a number of important weaknesses and overvalued the areas where progress has been made”.

Senior Conservatives have called for the resignation of the Labour Lead Councillor for Childrens’ Services, Cllr Pete Ruhemann, who chairs the Children & Young People’s Strategic Board and who has been responsible for this area for over 8 years. He must take much of the blame for a clear lack of political leadership in this department.

If he does not resign, Conservative Lead Spokesman Cllr Isobel Ballsdon will move a motion of no confidence in Cllr Ruhemann at the next Full Council meeting on 27th January and seek the support of other parties.

UPDATE: The BBC South Today report is here.