Third of serious case reviews "inadequate"

More than a third of serious case reviews (SCRs), carried out by local authorities where child abuse or neglect are suspected, have been found to be inadequate.

A report published by Ofsted claims children are being put at risk as a result, with only 23 per cent of the reviews described as being 'good'.

Chief inspector of Ofsted, Christine Gilbert, said the report's findings showed much more work was required to ensure better outcomes for children and young people.

'It is of great concern that over a third of reviews are still judged inadequate,' she added.

The 173 reviews inspected by Ofsted between April 1st 2008 and 31st March 2009 relate to 219 children.

Of these, 113 died as a result of abuse or neglect. It emerged that of the 219 cases, 68 per cent of the children were known to social services at the time of the abuse.

Ofted pointed to weak management and a lack of jointed-up thinking across care services which resulted in inadequate reviews.

Local Safeguarding Children Boards (LSCBs) were also criticised for failing to focus on the needs of the child, a lack of staff expertise and poor identification of ethnic or cultural issues.

Among the reviews published by LSCBs that were judged as inadequate by Ofsted were those from Norfolk, Peterborough, Derbyshire, Cumbria, the Isle of Wight, Blackpool, Kingston upon Thames, Lincolnshire and East Sussex.

Haringey, the authority responsible for the Baby Peter case, was judged as being 'good'.

The Liberal Democrat children's spokesman David Laws said the figures failed to improve confidence in child protection systems.

'We need to know where things are going wrong and be confident that steps are being taken to make sure they won't happen again,' he said.

Shireen Ritchie, chairman of the Local Government Association's children and young people board, said: 'No doubt Ofsted shares the over-riding aim of every council in this country and indeed virtually every parent – that we do everything within our power to keep every child safe from harm.

'Councils are working tirelessly to improve how they identify and protect children at risk from neglect and abuse, and an outside perspective does help. When things sadly go wrong they need to be examined. There is important work to be done within the police and NHS as well as at a local government level, and Ofsted also has a role to play in making things better.'

Childcare systems around the country were subject to review following the tragic death of Baby Peter in August 2007 at the hands of his mother, her boyfriend and his brother in north London.