COUNCIL bosses say they are working hard to improve how they deal with neglected children after criticism from Ofsted.

In November, bosses from the education inspectorate said the council had been “far too slow” in developing its response to neglect with an action plan that had not yet been implemented.

But director of children’s services and education for Blackburn with Darwen Council, Jayne Ivory, said it was not a major issue.

“It’s important to note that the inspection found as a partnership we could not always respond to families where neglect was an issue in a way that was as purposeful as it could be.

“That’s not to say it was a major issue.

“In November they found after 12 months some improvements had been made but as a partnership, we did come under some criticism for the pace of progress we have made, especially in relation to neglect.

“As part of our action plan, we said we would do a multi-agency audit in response to cases where they had been neglect.

“Everyone has been working hard on so many other issues that this multi-agency audit has not taken place.

"As a partnership we have agreed that we will complete the audit and report findings by the end of March.

"After we have done that, we will update our action plan in relation to the findings of the audit and continue to work together to implement our neglect strategy."

Ofsted inspector Paula Thomson-Jones said in her November report: "Children in Blackburn with Darwen who are at immediate risk are protected.

"The quality of most of the help and protection services they receive has remained the same since the last inspection in October 2017, with some improvements to some aspects of the service.

"Children have their assessments updated more regularly, and those in pre-proceedings are more closely monitored, which has reduced drift and delay.

"Outcomes for many children are improved by the work of the family group conference service, which has been established since the last inspection.

"Some children benefit from the good-quality work by individual practitioners, but for many children, particularly those suffering neglect, the service remains too variable, and some children live in neglectful situations for too long, where they suffer harm.

"The ability of the service to improve the quality of practice considered in this visit has been impacted on by a lack of progress in some key areas.

"Despite the recommendation from the last inspection, the partnership has been far too slow to develop its response to neglect, with an action plan that has not yet been implemented.

"The workforce remains under huge pressure. The caseloads of social workers and their managers have increased and remain too high.

"This has impeded progress in improving the quality of assessments and care plans."