EPPING FOREST: Children failed by county council (From East London and West Essex Guardian Series)

EPPING FOREST: Children failed by county council

10:16am Thursday 10th December 2009 in

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CHILDREN in the district are being failed and put at extra risk because of widespread failures by Essex County Council, a damning report has said.

According to national inspections watchdog Ofsted, the region's provision of children's services is poor.

Out of 152 equivalent local authorities in the country, the county council is among the nine worst.

According to the report, the proportion of children's homes that are rated good or above is below national and regional averages, while the number of children who become subject to a child protection plan for a second time is larger than average.

The proportion of young people not in education, employment or training is also too low compared with the rest of the UK, while many drop out of schooling when they are 17.

However Ofsted has said schools are improving, while the authority's adoption agency is "good".

Cllr Peter Martin, deputy leader of Essex County Council, said: “Essex County Council takes very seriously the red flag that it has received by the Comprehensive Area Assessment (CAA) for safeguarding children.

“We absolutely recognise there are significant challenges for us in relation to our children’s services and we know improvements must be made.

“The report does however acknowledge that we are undertaking various activities to strengthen and improve children’s safety and Government has acknowledged that we have been working continuously to ensure improvement.

“We take our responsibility to safeguard vulnerable children very seriously and have invested time to fully understand the problems within the service.

"We know there is still work to be done to secure the right provision for children but we are confident that we can make the changes needed to deliver high quality front line practice and an organisation that is fit for purpose, protecting children throughout their childhood.”