Children 'living in circumstances of risk for too long': Dudley's children's services rated inadequate
Ofsted inspected the service in July
Last updated 20 hours ago
Dudley Council’s children’s services has been hit with a damning report after its latest Ofsted inspection rated the provisions as 'inadequate'.
In the report published today (August 25), inspectors found "for too many children, ineffective and, for some children, unsafe practice, and an absence of effective management oversight, have resulted in them living in circumstances of risk for too long".
The latest inspection found services had deteriorated since a previous visit in 2022.
The watchdog said a "lack of stable leadership during the past five years coupled with staffing reductions and reduced capacity have been barriers to progress", but did point out the authority had a strong improvement plan in place.
Dudley Council has acknowledged the findings of the inspection and reaffirmed its commitment to delivering rapid and sustained improvements for children, young people and families across the borough.
Inadequate across all areas
The local authority received the lowest rating for the impact of leaders on social work practice with children and families, the experiences and progress of children who need help and protection, the experiences and progress of children in car and the experiences ad progress of care leavers.
The report said: "For too many children, ineffective and, for some children, unsafe practice and an absence of effective management oversight have resulted in them living in circumstances of risk for too long.
"Significant improvements in the quality of core social work practice, including assessments and planning for children, and the management oversight of practice, are required."
It also stated: "Children in Dudley are not receiving the quality of help, support, protection and care that they need."
Key issues raised included:
- a lack of previous lack of stable leadership
- the workforce being insufficient
- individual caseloads being too high
- the quality, consistency and timeliness of assessments and plans
- the response to children at the front door and out of hours
- the response to homeless children
- partnership working not being effective
Referrals to the multi-agency safeguarding hub (MASH) were described as poor with delays at all stages of decision-making.
The response to children who go missing and are at risk of exploitation was also found to be insufficient, and risks are not reducing.
The findings were 'as Dudley Council expected'
The authority said it conducted an internal assessment of it's children services following the appointment of a new director of children's services in November 2025.
Ofsted's report said that this self reflection was "largely accurate" and described the improvement plan was "credible".
The report said: "Senior leaders demonstrate an informed understanding of what needs to improve in practice for children and young people in Dudley."
Cllr Wayne Little, cabinet member for Children and Young People, said: "We are not starting from a position of denial.
"The issues identified by Ofsted are the same issues we had already identified through our own review work, and they are already reflected in our improvement programme.
"The challenge is not whether we know what needs to change. We do.
"The challenge is ensuring the changes now underway deliver the consistent impact that children, families and residents rightly expect to see."
Changes have been made, with more to come
The council's chief executive Balvinder Heran, said improving finances at the council means more investment, including £21 million that has been allocated for improvements, the recruitment of 22 social workers and higher pay for senior managers to improve recruitment and retention.
She believes a restructure of the directorate, recruitment of a permanent director of children’s services and the creation of an improvement board is already delivering results, but the inspection was too soon for better performance to be identified by Ofsted.
She also said partner services accepted the findings and were committed to helping improvements.
Nonetheless, she described the report as a "sobering read".
She said: "We will do better for our children and young people and everything we're doing is around ensuring that not only do we do better for me, but we sustain that so we give them the best start in life that we can."
The council's improvement plan includes:
- Strengthening quality assurance, governance and performance management arrangements
- Continuing the review and improvement of fostering services with external support
- Improving assessment, planning and management oversight across services
- Recruiting additional social work practitioners to reduce caseloads and improve support for children and families
- Strengthening the Multi-Agency Safeguarding Hub (MASH) and front-door safeguarding arrangements with partner agencies
Cllr Little added: "This improvement work is not simply a promise for the future. A comprehensive improvement programme is already underway, supported by stronger governance, additional investment, increased leadership capacity and workforce growth.
"We have strong foundations in place, but we know foundations alone are not enough.
"Residents, partners, staff and, most importantly, children and families need to see real improvements in practice and outcomes.
"We will not shy away from these findings. We accept responsibility, we are already acting, and we are determined to deliver lasting change.
"Our focus is, and remains, ensuring that every child and young person in Dudley receives the support, protection and opportunities they deserve."