SEVERAL staff have been suspended following a damning report into Calderdale Council's procedures for safeguarding children.
At least half the work done by initial response teams was found to be inadequate, as were efforts to protect children with disabilities.
Often the needs of adults took precedence over the needs of the children involved.
“And in a significant nu
mber of assessments, there was little or no evidence that the children had been seen,” said consultants Pricewaterhouse-Coopers, whose 20-page report was published this week.
Councillor Craig Whittaker, the council’s spokesman for children and young people’s services for nearly three years, said he had been concerned for some time.
“But I did not expect things to be as bad as this.
“I am angered by the findings and I am glad I instigated this report or we might have remained none the wiser about what has been going on,” said Coun Whittaker (Con, Rastrick).
The consultants were brought in following a review of the circumstances surrounding the neglect of a six-week-old girl in Hebden Bridge last year, which went unchecked by care workers.
The baby, known as Child H, was left blind and severely disabled by her abusers, Rizwan Patel and Alliah Bradshaw, who were jailed for three years for neglect.
Last year, the council also apologised for serious systematic failings uncovered after the deaths of two babies during 2007.
“The consultants found delays and inconsistency in investigating safeguarding issues and analysis of initial assessments was “almost universally poor”.
They said: “We were struck by the apparent reluctance to commence formal child-protection inquiries and it was hard to tell what outcomes were being sought from child-protection planning.”
The consultants found a service under enormous pressure and child-protection practices “falling far below minimum standards”.
It went on: “It is clear that significant and time-consuming efforts were being put into work which did not add value in terms of protecting or improving outcomes for children.”
Councillor Whittaker said action had been taken to ensure all the children highlighted in the review were safe and all 420 cases on record were now being independently scrutinised.
