Social work managers took 147 vulnerable children off their books when they should not have done to reduce workloads on a shrunken staff. It comes as Ofsted published a scathing report into how Birmingham City Council's children's services operate.
Birmingham City Council says it expected the 'inadequate' rating it received from Ofsted over how its children's services operate.
Councillor Brigid Jones, Birmingham City Council's cabinet member for children and family services, says:
"We must never forget that the welfare of children is at the heart of everything we do and here in Birmingham we have a group of people who are absolutely committed to ensuring we do our best for all our children and young people.
When we talk about change and improvement it is important that we always remember this.
We have been very open about the state of children’s services in Birmingham and this inadequate rating is what we expected.
The report’s details build on the issues we had recognised ourselves as inadequate practice and which we shared with Ofsted on their arrival.
This is welcome but we will not let the focus on current performance distract us from the tailor-made approach to improvement put in place by the Department for Education; an approach set out by the DfE during this latest Ofsted inspection."
West Midlands Weather: Windy on Sunday with showers and sunny spells
East Midlands Weather: Heavy rain over Derbyshire hills, drier and brighter elsewhere
The city’s spike in coronavirus cases has sparked a report that it may be the first UK location to be subjected to a district lockdown.