IMPROVEMENT is required to ensure vulnerable children and young people in Middlesbrough are better protected.

The town's Local Safeguarding Children Board (MSCB) was inspected by independent watchdog Ofsted late last year and today (Friday, February 19) a report has been published highlighting areas that need improvement whilst praising other area of good practice.

Lead inspector Dominic Stevens said the board must work more effectively with partner agencies, and involve young people themselves in its work to a greater degree.

More must be done to address safeguarding within the town’s diverse communities, including children seeking asylum from many countries.

Strengths highlighted in the report include good communication with the local authority, good training for professionals and strong links and partnership working with the area’s other LSCBs.

The board and its independent chairman, former leading detective Mark Braithwaite, were found to have a strong profile in local media, while a number of campaigns including ‘Silent Victims’, ‘Say Something if you See Something’ and ‘In the Wrong Hands’ had made a significant contributions to raising awareness in relation to exploitation concerns.

Mr Braithwaite said: “In an area such as Middlesbrough where the safeguarding challenges are acute and wide ranging, there is an acknowledged requirement to continuously look to improve - as a general maxim that goes for all safeguarding boards across the country.

“Lots of good work has been recognised in the report and the areas identified for further improvement are ones that were very much ‘work in progress’ at the time of the inspection.”

A high profile case involving the exploitation of young girls in the town resulted in a taxi driver and some of his friends being jailed for exploiting several young girls.

In his summary, Mr Stevens states: “Although the Middlesbrough Safeguarding Children’s Board meets its statutory functions, its ability to act as a ‘critical friend’ to partner agencies is compromised by weak performance monitoring and auditing arrangements.”