A Government-appointed commissioner has warned Sefton Council’s children’s services are still in ‘severe difficulties’ and could be removed from local control.
Paul Boyce, who was appointed to oversee Sefton’s children’s services following a critical Ofsted report in 2022, last week called for immediate improvements.
He added part of the problem was a lack of trust between officers and elected members.
Mr Boyce told the council’s overview and scrutiny committee: ‘I can’t be any clearer - your children’s services are in severe difficulties and unless you all work together to fix the problems you’ve got you will let children down in this borough as you already have as a council.’
After the Ofsted report, Sefton said it would commit £10m to improvements and hire new staff.
This article was originally published in The MJ (£).