Child safeguarding services in Cheshire East have ‘serious and fundamental weaknesses' that leave children at risk of exploitation, according to inspectorate Ofsted.

Inspections of the multi-agency Cheshire East Safeguarding Children's Partnership concluded it did not understand the extent of its failure to protect children who were at risk of criminal and sexual exploitation.

Ofsted said the partnership, which is made up of Cheshire East Council, Cheshire police, police and crime commissioner John Dwyer and NHS services, lacked ‘insufficient senior leadership analysis' of the experiences of vulnerable children.

Multi-agency action plans were also judged to be ‘ineffective' and evaluation of the impact of frontline work was too focused on process.

A joint statement from the partnership read: ‘We fully accept all the inspectors' recommendations and are truly sorry that there were gaps in our work to protect these children and young people.

‘Following the inspection we acted immediately and are working hard to make sure this vulnerable group of children are supported and protected.

'Improvements have already been implemented, and we are working together to build on our strengths and address all the areas for improvement as a matter of urgency.'