Ofsted set to report failings in child safety

GOVERNMENT inspectors are set to reveal a rise in the number of councils failing to keep children healthy and safe in reports on children's services in every local authority in England.

The Ofsted reports will come under close scrutiny amid heightened public concern over child protection following the Baby P case in Haringey.

Evening Standard revealed that Ofsted inspectors gave Haringey's director of children's services, Sharon Shoesmith, a glowing report just weeks after Baby P died while he was still on the council's child protection register.

Ofsted's chief inspector Christine Gilbert claimed inspectors had been misled by inaccurate data from Haringey, when they wrote the report.

Ofsted's annual performance assessments, which are published today, rely on desk-based research. Fuller inspections of councils take place once every three years.

Ms Gilbert wrote to all councils following the Baby P scandal urging officials to check the accuracy of their data. Last year only four out of 150 were rated "inadequate" for child safety. Haringey was not among them.