OPPOSITION councillors in Dudley have spoken out in horror following the release of a damning new Ofsted report which rates children's services as "inadequate".

The report, released today (Tuesday April 5) after a two-month inspection of Dudley Council's children's services department, highlights "serious and widespread weaknesses” and criticises the Labour-controlled authority for not taking "sufficiently swift or robust remedial action to ensure the most vulnerable children and young people are protected".

Councillor Pete Lowe, Dudley Council’s leader, said he was "comforted" to hear changes in the senior leadership team had been recognised by Ofsted.

Opposition councillors, however, have slammed council chiefs following the release of the report which says "senior leaders and elected members cannot be assured that children and young people are safe or being effectively protected" and that many services had deteriorated since the last inspection of Dudley safeguarding and looked after children and young people in 2012.

It says "the majority of areas that were found to require improvement at that inspection have not been progressed" and highlights cases of children not receiving adequate levels of support and protection, youngsters not being seen by social workers for unacceptably long periods, poor planning for looked-after children to return home and delays in securing permanent care.

Cllr Paul Brothwood, UKIP leader on Dudley Council, told the News: "It's horrendous. Time and time again my group have raised concerns about children's services across the borough.

"The Ofsted report has confirmed our fears about a lack of action since the previous report and the failure in political leadership."

Councillor Patrick Harley, leader of Dudley Conservatives, said: “It’s an absolute mess. This report backs up what myself and other colleagues have been saying for several years that children's services were poorly run with a lack of leadership shown by the controlling group at the time.

“We’re so lucky in Dudley that we haven’t had a shocking example of child abuse or neglect. By the skin of our teeth we’ve got away with it.”

Cllr Lowe said: "The Ofsted report has confirmed what our own internal report has found - services provided are inadequate.

"When I became leader in 2014 the first thing I asked to do, following the establishment of new leadership positions, was to launch an internal review of the services that we provide."

He said while the report labels the council as inadequate - it "praises changes made by the senior leadership team to address the concerns Ofsted has shown".

The report acknowledges new leaders, who started in 2015, quickly recognised they needed to make many changes and that there have been some positive developments in relation to child sexual exploitation and missing children but it adds: "There is still a great deal to do. Ofsted has judged the services to children and young people as still not good enough and needing to improve as soon as possible."

Sarah Norman, chief executive of Dudley Council, said it quickly became apparent when she joined the council last January that “children’s services in the borough simply weren’t good enough”.

She said: "This is why we brought in a new senior management team in April including interim support, commissioned an external review of practice in May, shared a hard-hitting self-assessment with cabinet members and opposition leaders over the summer and established an Improvement Board in September to work with partners to make radical changes to the service.

“We fully accept Ofsted’s findings and the inspection has confirmed our own self-assessment of the services and we will continue at pace to rectify the issues. We have acted quickly over the last 12 months to drive forward these changes and we are pleased the report confirms ‘strong leadership’ is now in place."

The Bishop of Dudley, the Rt Rev Graham Usher, said the Ofsted report was "deeply concerning" but he added: "It recognises significant organisational improvements have been made during the last year.

"I am confident Dudley's chief executive, Sarah Norman, and our political leaders are taking this report immensely seriously and are actively working to vastly improve the care provided for children and young people, as well as the support for vulnerable families.

He added: "The care of our borough's most vulnerable children must be the highest priority for Dudley Council and for us as a society."

UKIP West Midlands MEP and Dudley councillor Bill Etheridge, said he was "sickened" by the findings in the report and added: "I demand those responsible for these failures do the honourable thing and - for the sake of vulnerable children - go.”

Off the back of the scathing report - the Department for Education has appointed a children’s services commissioner to work with council bosses over the next three months to try and bring services up to scratch.