Couple convicted of child cruelty used babysitter revealed to be paedophile

A couple in Blackpool previously jailed for child cruelty allowed a man who turned out to be a convicted sex offender to babysit two of their children, a review has found.

The shocking situation came to light when the older of the two children, aged just four, began to behave in a sexualised way at school.

Apart from the revelation about the sex offender, it then transpired that the local authorities in Blackpool did not know the couple had already had five older children taken off them while living in another area.

The couple had then moved to the resort in 2017, where they had two more babies.

The babies remained in their care after the mother lied to health staff about her previous children – and stayed with their parents despite two police referrals to social services in March and April 2023.

Blackpool Council said it accepted there had been “inadequate communication” with the other local authority areas but that recommended changes had already been made.

The case was explored in a review by Blackpool’s Local Safeguarding Children Multi-Agency Safeguarding Arrangements (MASA), which made six key recommendations.

Victoria Gent, Blackpool Council’s Director of Children’s Services, commenting as Chair of the Blackpool MASA, said: “This review has thoroughly examined all of the interactions that Children B and C, and their family, had with agencies in Blackpool.

“Sadly, there will be circumstances where the true picture and concerning background information is not known in a timely manner.

“The recommendations clearly identify inadequate communication between Blackpool agencies and partnership agencies located elsewhere in the country. This led to missed opportunities to provide background information to ensure these children were safeguarded at the earliest possible opportunity.

“As a result, six key recommendations and learning points have been agreed by the MASA partnership and are being implemented.”

‘No evidence parents knew of babysitter’s background’

The review heard that school staff had been concerned about the older of the two children, referred to as Child B, displaying “sexualised behaviour” towards other children, staff and dolls.

In October 2023, both the mother and father attended a parents’ evening without their children and when asked who was looking after them, the parents were said to have “avoided giving an answer”.

The following day, staff asked Child B, then aged four, who had been looking after him and his two-year-old sibling, Child C, and he gave the name of a man.

The school contacted a social worker who spoke to the mother about Child B’s sexualised behaviour and asked who the man was.

The mother said the boy may have accidentally seen his parents having sex, and said she had got to know the man at work, but did not have his full name and date of birth.

She was asked to get them, then a few days later, Child B told staff at his school of behaviour clearly amounting to abuse by the man.

The social worker and Lancashire Police were informed and found out the full background of the babysitter, which revealed he had been released from a 13-year prison sentence for child sexual offences in 2022 and had strict conditions, including a court order preventing him from unsupervised contact with children.

The review said no evidence had been found that the parents were aware of his background.

The man was arrested and the children were removed from their parents and placed into the care of the local authority.

The review found that Lancashire Police had raised concerns a few months earlier after one of the children was found wandering around the community in his nappy unsupervised, but the case was closed after a social worker visited and found no major concerns.

A second referral was made after a callout to the family home due to a domestic incident, but the parents said the call had been made by mistake.

The review found those referrals contained details of the parents’ previous convictions for child cruelty, but the information was not added to the social services file “due to internal error”.

Six key recommendations

The review concluded with the following recommendations:

1 The safeguarding partnership should seek assurance that: there is a clear training plan for relevant professionals in Graded Care Profile 2; the GCP2 is used in assessments of children where neglect is a feature; professionals feel knowledgeable and confident when using it.

2 The safeguarding partnership should ensure that the regional work to improve the identification and response to child sexual abuse informs training, learning and development programmes and policies and procedures in this area of practice.

3 The safeguarding partnership should seek assurance from children’s social care that agencies and solo professionals such as childminders who contribute to statutory assessments are informed of the outcome and ensure that this learning is included in multi-agency training.

4 The safeguarding partnership should seek assurance from children’s social care that escalation processes are developed to enable issues of concern, including those related to the actions of another local authority, to be resolved promptly and that strategy discussions are convened where there is reasonable cause to suspect that a child is suffering or is likely to suffer significant harm.

5 The safeguarding partnership should seek assurance from the Probation service that the National Policy Lead for Probation has been asked to consider the inclusion in guidance that notifications about the movement of registered sex offenders who present a risk to children are provided to the local authority where the offender is currently located.

6 The safeguarding partnership should review the safeguarding training available to practitioners to ensure that practitioners are suitably skilled to respond to adults who provide false or partial information to professionals.

Children’s Services ‘continuing to improve’ – Ofsted

An Ofsted report published two months ago said Blackpool Council’s services for children are continuing to improve.

The visit by inspectors in October visit looked at how the council supports children who need help or protection and it was found that leaders had maintained a strong focus on child safety and wellbeing, even as demand for services had increased.

Inspectors highlighted several strengths in Blackpool’s approach.

They included that assessments of children’s needs are now more timely and thorough, with swift action taken when risks are identified.

Also, staff build strong relationships with families and offer tailored support, including help with parenting, routines, budgeting, and improving home conditions; social workers feel well supported and safe to practice.

However, the inspectors also noted that while assessment quality has improved, inconsistency in the quality of some children’s plans is leading to drift and delay in their plans being progressed.

The inspectors highlighted that improvements were still needed, such as:

* The consistency and quality of safety planning for children, including proactively involving children’s wider family networks.

*The quality of supervision and management oversight, ensuring that actions and timescales are recorded and tracked to prevent drift and delay.

*The quality of supervision and management oversight, ensuring that actions and timescales are recorded and tracked to prevent drift and delay;

Earlier last year, a Joint Targeted Area Inspection (JTAI) praised Blackpool’s multi-agency safeguarding work, leadership, and specialist teams such as Awaken.

The Ofsted visit built on that trajectory, recognising continued improvement and a strong commitment to children’s welfare.

Coun Jim Hobson, Blackpool Council’s Cabinet Member for Children’s Services, said in response to the Ofsted report: “We’ve rebuilt our service into a much stronger, child-centred system that is shaped by the children and families we work with.

“Earlier this year, the joint inspection praised our leadership, partnerships, and specialist work like the Awaken team. Ofsted’s latest visit confirms that progress.

“While we’re proud, we aren’t complacent—we’ll keep improving to support every child in Blackpool.”