Ealing Liberal Democrats have questioned why problems with management oversight in Ealing Council’s children’s services remain more than two years after Ofsted identified a need to improve oversight of some decision-making, as the Labour-run borough confirmed it has submitted a draft action plan after inspectors last month called for urgent improvements.
Ofsted required the council to provide an early draft of its action plan within 20 working days of its findings being published on 31 July 2026, and Ealing Council has confirmed to EALING.NEWS that this has now been submitted. The council must then produce its full action plan within 70 working days of the findings.
The latest inspection, which took place on 24 and 25 June 2026, identified problems with management oversight, raising concerns over how managers supervised children’s cases and made sure the right action was taken when concerns arose.
Ofsted said: “Management oversight beyond the point of initial screening does not sufficiently assist social workers to plan effectively with families so that next steps are set out and clearly followed through.”
Inspectors also found social workers could receive differing management recommendations about risks identified in assessments, “leading to confusion in decision-making”. Ofsted added: “Actions discussed during management oversight and supervision are not always sufficiently focused on children’s safety or progressing their plans.”
During its 2024 inspection, Ofsted said management oversight had improved since its previous inspection, but identified the quality and impact of oversight of initial decisions involving children placed with relatives or family as an area needing further improvement.
Inspectors also found that for some children at risk of significant harm or in kinship care, management decision-making had not always been swift or thorough enough to ensure necessary safeguarding checks and multi-agency planning were completed at the right time.
According to Ealing Liberal Democrats, councillors were told at a council briefing earlier this month (12 August 2026) that management information had indicated supervision was taking place appropriately, but that an Ofsted examination found this did not necessarily reflect what was happening in practice.
Councillor Adam Keenan, Ealing Liberal Democrat spokesperson for children’s services, said: “Liberal Democrats say that despite being warned over two years ago that management oversight at Labour-run Ealing Council Children’s Services ‘required improvement’, Ealing Labour has not taken meaningful action to address this.
“This failure in leadership has allowed vulnerable children to slip through the cracks, putting them at risk of harm. Liberal Democrats believe urgent action is needed to address this appalling failure to keep young people in our borough safe. Ealing residents will be shocked by the findings in this report.”
Councillor Jonathan Oxley, Ealing Liberal Democrat spokesperson for finance, said: “Liberal Democrats believe that it is appalling to see that the essential minimum services for safeguarding are not being applied consistently across the board and that children may be falling through the safety net.”
The Lib Dems told EALING.NEWS that councillors were also informed the council was examining management “line of sight” and the completeness of its data after questions were raised about why senior leadership had not known what was happening.
On concerns involving sexual harm, councillors were told that protocols were in place but had not been appropriately applied and there had been a lack of consistency, according to the Lib Dems.
The party added that councillors were told some changes had been made since the earlier inspection and work was already under way to address areas of underperformance.
Inspectors found most contacts and referrals at the council’s initial “front door” received a timely response and that risk identification had improved.
However, once some cases moved to other teams, Ofsted found children did not consistently receive a timely and effective safeguarding response. Inspectors identified cases where children were left at unassessed risk of sexual abuse, physical harm or neglect, as well as delays in strategy discussions and inadequate safety planning.
An Ealing Council spokesperson told EALING.NEWS: “The council has submitted its draft action plan to Ofsted for review. Further detail on the plan and progress will be published in an update to the council’s Overview and Scrutiny Committee in due course.”
Councillor Blerina Hashani, Ealing Council’s cabinet member for a fairer start, previously told EALING.NEWS: “We take Ofsted’s findings extremely seriously. We acted immediately to address the issues identified, including reviewing the cases highlighted during the visit, strengthening management oversight and putting in place an improvement plan backed by additional resources.
“Ofsted’s focused visit identified strengths in several areas of our service, including our initial response to safeguarding concerns, partnership working and the commitment of our workforce. Ealing’s overall Ofsted rating remains Good.
“Our focus is on delivering the improvements identified by Ofsted and ensuring that every child and family receives a timely, effective and high-quality response when they need our support.”
Ealing’s children’s services retain their overall Ofsted rating of Good.
