Vulnerable children are not being helped quickly enough, according to an independent inspection.

The Manx Government needs to make improvements in the way it responds to children who may be at risk from abuse or neglect, says the Care Inspectorate of Scotland. It carried out an inspection at the request of the Council of Ministers between August and October last year. The findings will be laid before this month's sitting of Tynwald.

Areas for concern focus on the provision of effective early intervention and support for children, young people and families, the immediate response to children at risk of abuse or neglect, and the need for stronger leadership.

Chris Robertshaw, former Minister for Social Care who takes on the new department of Policy and Reform from April, said: 'The inspection has found that all staff in children's services are committed to ensuring all children on the Isle of Man get, if needed, the support and services they require to be safe and achieve their potential. However, this could be improved further by services being truly integrated and problems being identified at an early stage.

'All departments involved in children's services have already started work on the improvements needed to address the three key points identified and are looking forward to proving at the follow up inspection that the services have improved substantially.'

See our interview with Chris Robertshaw on MTTV.


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