ARRANGEMENTS to safeguard children in Cumbria are inadequate, Ofsted has found.

Inspectors turned up unannounced to check up on services provided by Cumbria County Council.

They have ordered social workers to ‘get better at listening to children’ and ‘act more quickly where they are not being properly looked after by their parents or carers’.

Ofsted also told managers they needed to provide better supervision for social workers.

During the inspection, it was found that a small number of children known to the council were not being adequately protected, although the report stated the council took appropriate action to resolve their concerns.

One Cumbrian MP said youngsters were being 'badly let down'.

Inspectorsd did, however, praise the leadership and commitment of the authority’s children’s services department, its understanding of what improvements are required and ‘positive changes’ since the last inspection.

Julia Morrison, Cumbria County Council’s director of children’s services, said: “I accept Ofsted’s findings.

“It is simply not acceptable for children to be left at risk because of poor practice.

“We responded immediately to concerns raised during the inspection.

“While the inspectors showed confidence in the directorate’s leadership and made positive comments about the changes that have already been made, such as the new multi-agency triage service, there are still areas of individual and team performance where we need to deliver to a higher standard, more consistently.

“I am encouraged that Ofsted recognised the work that we have done since the last inspection and share their view that the pace of change must increase.

“We want Cumbria to be a great place to be a child and grow up; I remain absolutely committed to that aspiration.

“We will use the outcome of this inspection to refocus where necessary and continue with the job we’ve started.”

Coun Anne Burns, the council’s cabinet member for children’s services, said: “Making sure vulnerable children are protected is the fundamental thing we must get right.

“I have considered the report findings very carefully. I accept its criticisms entirely but also note the support it gives to the corporate director and senior management team.

“I know that staff in children’s services work incredibly hard to support children and families.

“We need to make sure those staff have the support, supervision and training they need to do this very demanding job.

“I want them to know they have my full support. But I have to be clear that we cannot tolerate poor practice in any area and we will take action where necessary.”

Barrow and Furness MP John Woodcock said the inspection showed Cumbria’s most vulnerable children and young people were being 'badly let down'.

He added: “Immediate action is needed simply to ensure that basic child protection is correctly carried out.

“While some improvements have taken place since the last report, it is worrying that inspectors have judged the pace of change to still be too slow.

“County leaders have got a big and important task to put this right as quickly as possible and I will do everything I can to assist them.”

The council said it had introduced the following changes in light of the weaknesses found:

• Changes to management and staffing where inspectors identified significant issues
• Completed a review of case files managed by teams where issues were identified
• Re-issued management instructions around appropriate practice to ensure all staff fully understand requirements
• Initiated the next phase of our Strengthening Practice training programme focused on leadership and management
• Reviewed senior management arrangements to provide greater clarity of roles and responsibilities and increase capacity
• Had approval to recruit additional social workers to address capacity issues in some areas

The full report can be found at http://www.ofsted.gov.uk/local-authorities/cumbria