A council asked to help a neighbouring authority improve its child services has itself been been criticised by inspectors.
Ofsted found concerns in Stockport Council’s children’s services in areas like support for children experiencing domestic abuse and neglect, and the experiences of those in care.
The critical report comes after the council stepped in to help Tameside Council overhaul its struggling children’s services last year.
Stockport Councillor Wendy Meikle, who is cabinet member for children and families, said the authority had an improvement plan in place and was “determined to meet this challenge head-on”.
Management oversight was described as “weak in some key areas of front-line practice” and the council’s overall effectiveness in children’s services was judged to “be below par”, the inspection found.
They said there had been a continued rise in the demand for children’s services, including an “increase in complexity” since Stockport’s last inspection in 2022 when it was given a ‘good’ rating overall.
Inspectors found in its most recent report that the council’s approach to domestic abuse was inconsistent and some social workers did not “understand the complexities relating to coercive control and fear”.
In some case, they said “safety planning sometimes relies on victims to protect their children from the people who have abused them”.
“Where the specialist domestic abuse team is co-working with vulnerable families, the response to risk and safety planning is stronger.”
The council was given a ‘good’ rating for the experiences and progress of care leavers.
Stockport Council is run by the Liberal Democrats under a minority administration, after it was left under no overall control at the last local elections.
Council leader Mark Roberts said “we’re disappointed by the overall judgement” but added the council was “fully committed to addressing the areas for improvement”.
Councillor Christine Carrigan, leader of the opposition Labour group, said the authority had to act with “urgency and transparency to put things right”.
