Ofsted has criticised “weak” joint working between social care, police, health services and schools, as heads reported they were “too often working in isolation” to keep children safe.
The inspectorate has published new research based on joint inspections in five areas of the multi-agency response to children and families who need help, in particular targeted early help.
It warned that the sample of inspections, which took place in Bedford, Sunderland, Surrey, Wirral and Harrow, was not “nationally representative”.
Ofsted found local safeguarding partnerships needed to ensure “greater engagement and strategic consensus” with partner agencies, “particularly schools”.
