OFSTED has sent a damning letter to Wokingham Borough Council’s children’s services department after it claimed it saw a “marked deterioration in the quality, timeliness and delivery of services to children” when the watchdog visited in October.

The report comes after the department saw a huge increase in demand for its services over the last year-and-a-half, as well as instability in the top jobs of children’s services.

Despite this, Carol Cammiss, who started her job as Director of Children’s Services just eight days before the letter was received and who was not in post when Ofsted visited, said the department was “quite pleased with the outcome” of the report, but said it was “not easy reading.”

She added: “It did not tell us anything we did not already know.

“We were very open with them – we weren’t defensive in any way. The letter is a bit more harsh than the actual feedback we got. We are satisfied that this is a true reflection of where we are.

“We received no recommendations from Ofsted to have a priority action, which is something they give to organisations when they are very concerned.”

The council’s children’s services has seen a staggering 246 per cent increase in the demand for child protection services from March 2017 to September 2018.

Ofsted’s letter noted that “assertive action” had led “to positive changes” in the department, but added that the council’s multi-action safeguarding hub was “not efficient as it could be” and more engagement was needed with the police to ensure the service worked better.

It was also claimed that some families were being drawn into the child protection programme when this was not required and Ms Cammiss added that “some of these children do not need that level of protection” and some of these decisions had been made “without all the information”.

The report mentioned that while practices could be improved for some services, no children under the council’s supervision were found to be unsafe.

Councillor Pauline Heliar-Symons, the executive member for children’s services, said: “The report said no children were found to be unsafe, which is of course what the department is all about.

“This was heartening for the staff as they are making a difference in the children’s lives.”

The letter concluded by stating: “The focused visit to the front door highlighted a number of strengths and recognised the pressure increased demand has put on services, but also found a number of areas for improvement.”

Cllr Heliar-Symons continued: “I was pleased with the report given the major changes the department has had over the last year or so, like the demand and the instability of the senior leadership.

“We now have stability and we have interviews in place for other positions.

“An action plan will follow and we know what is going to go in it.”

The letter was discussed by councillors at a meeting of Wokingham Borough Council’s Children’s services overview and scrutiny committee on Tuesday, November 20.