Ofsted report confirms Child Protection postcode lottery
Published: 18 December 2008
Ofsted’s 2008 Annual Performance Assessments state that 73% of councils have been judged good or outstanding in the contribution they make to improving services overall for children and young people, a decrease from 78% in 2007. Additionally 4 councils have been assessed as inadequate overall, whereas none were inadequate overall in 2007.
In response Dr. Peter Carter, Chief Executive and General Secretary of the Royal College of Nursing (RCN), said:
“This report shows that four council’s child protection services simply aren’t good enough and we are concerned that standards appear to be slipping in other local authorities.
“Since the case of Baby P, nurses have been contacting the RCN to express their concerns about the effectiveness of child protection services, concerns which the College will pick up with the relevant agencies as soon as possible.
"The RCN has been calling for government action to improve the dire state of child protection services in some parts of the country and today’s assessments show that there is urgent work to be done. Work must not stop until the postcode lottery in child protection services is a thing of the past."
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Notes to editors
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Royal College of Nursing (RCN) is the voice of nursing across the UK and is the largest professional union of nursing staff in the world. The RCN promotes the interest of nurses and patients on a wide range of issues and helps shape healthcare policy by working closely with the UK Government and other national and international institutions, trade unions, professional bodies and voluntary organisations.