Children's services let down by 'underfunding and staff shortages', Wigan Council boss claimed

Children’s services at Wigan Council are under ‘huge pressures’ due to ‘underfunding and staffing shortages’, bosses have claimed following an Ofsted inspection stating they ‘required improvement’. Response to domestic abuse concerns being 'not sufficiently robust' and child-protection plans not being specific enough were highlighted by inspectors back in May.

The report, published in July, also suggested that assessments of the 'immediate risk of harm' to children was 'not as quick as it could be'. However it did go on to say that it was mostly recognised well and responded to promptly.

“This means that some children are not protected as quickly as they could be, and, in a small number of cases, social workers complete visits and develop safety plans prior to a multi-agency discussion to agree next steps,” the report said.

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“Senior leaders have been working closely with the police and these issues are starting to be addressed.”

From the council’s point of view, they want to see more backing from central government for what they deem to be an ‘underfunded’ sector. The leader of the council said there is a national shortage of social workers and an increase in private providers ramping up costs.

Leader of Wigan Council, Councillor David Molyneux MBE: said: “It has been clear for a number of years that the level of underfunding for social care services – across both children and adults – is placing huge pressure on local authorities in the face of soaring demand.

“Issues caused by a lack of investment in social work training and development leading to a national shortage of social workers, along with private providers driving up