Essex Tories fail on safeguarding children

The ruling Conservatives at Essex County Council have failed to provide effective safeguards for children and have been given a damning 'inadequate' grade by the government's inspectors - not even meeting minimum requirements.

Only seven other local authorities in the country scored as low as Essex and one of those was Haringay.

The inspectors concluded that the council's recruitment and vetting of staff working with children was not sufficiently robust, that it failed to learn from its mistakes when dealing with complaints and the threshold for referral was not understood and acted upon consistently.

Local Liberal Democrats on Epping Forest District council raised the issue of lack of support for vulnerable children at this week's district council meeting.

Speaking about the report, Councillor Jon Whitehouse said: "At a time when councils' safe guarding procedures are under closer scrutiny by the media and general public at large, this is an appalling report.

The Conservative administration at County Hall failed us. Local residents now need believable reassurances that these serious shortcomings will be addressed as a priority."