SHEFFIELD Council has been criticised by the children's services watchdog after a surprise inspection revealed failings in its treatment of child abuse cases.
Ofsted – the body which regulates children's social care – has written to Sheffield Council after discovering the shortcomings during an unannounced visit last month.
Inspectors said Sheffield Council had failed to act quickly enough over allegati
ons that two boys had been seriously harmed.
A letter to the council's executive director of children and young people Dr Sonia Sharp said: "Two cases were brought to the attention of the authority which had not been promptly investigated or assessed. The authority had taken action to investigate alleged harm to the young people concerned, however this had been delayed."
Dr Sharp said the inspectors' judgment matched the findings of the council's own internal audits and would be taken "very seriously".
She said: "In terms of the priority area for action, this related to two young people, both of whom had experienced family difficulties and were potentially at risk of physical abuse.
"We did take action promptly, however the inspectors felt our assessment should have been commenced at an earlier stage.
"We can report both boys were unhurt, remain safe and we continue to work with them and their families."
Last November a Serious Case Review discovered serious failings in the council's dealings with Tiffany Wright – a three-year-old girl who was left to die by her mum and stepdad at a Sheffield pub.
The review found social workers never even visited her home – despite warnings from a midwife about the conditions that the family's children were growing up in.
Oftsted has visited 30 authorities nationwide this summer, of which 17, including Rotherham Council, were criticised as having areas in need of "priority action".
Inspectors said social workers in Rotherham had such a wide range of work to do that it undermined their ability to protect vulnerable children.
The snap inspections were carried out with the intention of stopping a repeat of the Baby P tragedy – where a 17-month-old boy died in north London after months of abuse at the hands of his mother and her boyfriend.
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