Ofsted has warned of “shortcomings” in the safeguarding of babies under the age of one.

The watchdog, drawing on the findings of serious case reviews, warns that the risks to babies from their parents’ lifestyles could be “underestimated”.

The report says it found repeated examples of a lack of attention to risks such as drug and alcohol misuse.

Ofsted chief Miriam Rosen said the report highlighted “potential gaps in protecting children”.

The report warns of the particular risk to this vulnerable age group of babies before their first birthday. It says that more than a third of serious case reviews between 2007 and 2011 related to babies below the age of one.

In particular the report raises concerns about a lack of attention to the risk factors in parents which could be a danger to their babies – such as alcohol, drugs and domestic violence – or where parents had a personal background which needed to be taken into account.

It says there were were repeated examples of a lack of response to such risks. Where parents are very young, it says that there has too often been inadequate support and that the parents might need to have been considered as “children in need in their own right”.

Source: BBC

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