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Surprise inspection finds weaknesses in child protection at Shannon council
WEAKNESSES have been found at a seventh Yorkshire council by child protection experts during a surprise inspection aimed at preventing a repeat of the Baby P tragedy.
Kirklees Council, currently under scrutiny for its dealings with the family of kidnapped Dewsbury schoolgirl Shannon Matthews, must improve its work in a number of important areas, according to children's services watchdog Ofsted.
Inspectors found the council's IT-based client management system had "major weaknesses" while five cases involving vulnerable children had been subject to "significant delay", "poor recording" and "a lack of management supervision".
In some cases, social workers showed an "over-reliance" on parents' pledges to protect their children, without properly investigating whether they were up to the task.
However, unlike the six other Yorkshire councils visited by Ofsted this year, Kirklees was found to have no areas in need of "priority action".
Children's services departments in Leeds, Calderdale, North Yorkshire, Rotherham, Sheffield and Bradford were all told to make immediate improvements after surprise inspections.
Kirklees's director of the children and young people service, Alison O'Sullivan, said the authority had already begun to take action on its areas of weakness.
"I am delighted that inspectors recognised our strengths in major areas like staff development and training, working and communicating with other agencies and engaging with families," she added.
"In accepting the areas for development, we note that a number of them are also referred to as strengths in other sections of the report.
"In general we have recognised these areas for development ourselves and have action plans in place to deal with them."
The council's cabinet member for children and young people, Ken Smith, said: "To be the first council in Yorkshire to come through an inspection of this type with no areas for priority action is a significant achievement."
Kirklees launched a serious case review last December after discovering that Shannon Matthews was on its child protection register five years before being kidnapped by her mother. The report is expected next year.
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Weather for Yorkshire
Saturday 26 May 2012
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Temperature: 9 C to 21 C
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