Trafford council could lose control of children's services as the government steps in to deal with the crisis-hit department. A recent Ofsted inspection saw the service rated 'inadequate' — the lowest possible rating — with inspectors finding children were being left in 'potentially unsafe situations for too long' because of delays in initial responses.
Some of the problems identified by inspectors were branded 'serious and significant', and in some cases 'unrealistic expectations' were being placed on children 'to keep themselves safe'. Town hall bosses did not 'fully' grasp the extent of the issues until they were pointed out to them, the report concluded.
Government appoints expert adviser
The government has now appointed independent expert adviser Andy Couldrick to assess and work with the council's children's department over the coming months. Mr Couldrick was previously brought in to oversee Tameside council's children's services after it too was rated inadequate, ultimately exposing failures, toxicity and an oppressive and bullying culture. The 2024 revelations were followed by political chaos at the authority as Tameside council's chief executive Sandra Stewart resigned the following month and was swiftly followed by council leader Ged Cooney.
Mr Couldrick told an extraordinary meeting of the Children's and Young People's Scrutiny Committee he will be creating an 'evidence-based' report for the government setting out how the Ofsted outcome came about and what steps are needed to ensure rapid and sustainable improvements. He added: "With that comes a range of potential recommendations that I can make. I can recommend that a children's trust be imposed on Trafford if I reach the view that the council should have control of its children's services removed."
Councillors 'blindsided' by report
The Ofsted report reportedly left Trafford councillors from all political parties 'blindsided'. Two emergency meetings were held this week, with opposition councillors calling for answers on who knew what, how the service got to the state it is in and what happens next. Council leader Tom Ross told members 'information was not coming up to a leadership level' and he and his team 'were not aware of those issues'.
Department head Jill McGregor sought to reassure the committee steps had already been taken to improve the service, including speeding up initial responses to new cases. The department said it had 133 contacts considered to be in the top level of urgency and 114 were screened in less than a day. Ms McGregor put some of the blame on an increase in demand, saying there was a 60 per cent increase in referrals to the department at the time of the June inspection compared to the same month a year earlier. She said she 'did not think it was a lack of communication' but that some of the data and information was 'not understood as clearly as it should be'.
No confidence vote fails
The full council meeting also served as a vote of no confidence in council leader Tom Ross. The Conservative group, the main opposition on the Labour-led authority, called for political accountability and, ultimately, for Coun Ross to resign. The no confidence vote saw a rare moment of political unity among all of Trafford's opposition parties, with the Conservatives, the Green Party, the Liberal Democrats and Reform UK all backing the call.
Speaking in the chamber, Conservative leader of the opposition Nathan Evans said: "It is about being able to look every parent in Trafford in the eye and say 'your child is safe, your child will get the help they need'." Liberal Democrat group leader Shaun Ennis said: "We're talking about some of the most at risk children and young people who look to this council for help. Their experience has been so bad that it is likely some of those children and families might not trust this council again or come forward if they need support in future. That is the cost of failure."
Green Party leader Geraldine Coggins added: "Tonight I am thinking about the children who continued to experience neglect and domestic abuse when the council should have acted." Reform UK's Charlotte Waterworth said: "These aren't numbers on performance dashboards, they aren't cases on spreadsheets, they aren't statistics for us to debate across a council chamber, they are children. They do not get their childhood back while we improve the process."
Labour, which holds a majority of seats in the town hall, submitted an amended motion, which removed lines branding the rating a 'serious failure of governance and accountability' and calling on Coun Ross to 'accept political responsibility' and resign. Ultimately, the Labour motion was voted through. Addressing councillors, Coun Ross said: "In some important areas our children, young people and families have not been provided with the standard of service they have a right to expect. For that, as leader of the council, I am sorry." Deputy leader Liz Patel also spoke in his defence, telling the chamber: "There are lots of attributes to good leadership including honesty, integrity and good judgement. Tom Ross displays them all in his role as leader of this council and he has my full confidence."
