Children’s voices are at the heart of investigations, an inspection into how the council and partners investigate child sexual abuse within families has found.
The joint targeted area inspection (JTAI) of the multi-agency response to child sexual abuse within families in Tower Hamlets was carried out from 9 to 13 March by inspectors from Ofsted, the Care Quality Commission (CQC), His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS) and His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Probation (HMIP).
Unlike school Ofsted inspections, the inspection does not produce a grading, but a subsequent report highlights positive work and where improvements need to be made.
The report praised the council and its partners.
It reads: “Children’s voices are almost always at the centre of practice. Despite the significant challenges in this complex area of practice, practitioners do well in helping to promote children to feel safe and respected. Skilled relational work is often very successful in helping to enable children to express emotional needs without pressure. Staff from across partner agencies show sensitivity to the emotional impact of professional involvement, particularly during initial safeguarding activity.”
It continues: “Tower Hamlets is an ambitious multi-agency safeguarding partnership, with clear priorities informed by the diverse local communities, including children. Leaders have a robust understanding of the effectiveness of services for children who are at risk or victims of child sexual abuse.”
It went on to praise the “strong communication” between organisations, the shared learning and reflective practice, and the use of child sexual abuse consultants in social care, child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS) and the sexual assault referral centre to provide additional support for victims.
The report did highlight some areas for improvement, including improving safety plans and assessments, and ensuring minutes and actions from partnership meetings are distributed quicker.
The council and its partners will create an action plan to address where improvements need to be made.
Executive Mayor of Tower Hamlets, Lutfur Rahman, said: “We take all concerns of child abuse in the borough extremely seriously and I am proud to see that the report highlighted lots of examples of good practice by the teams at the council and our partners.
“We will be working hard to ensure further improvement in the areas where this is needed and I am confident that we will be able to deliver on these soon.”
Deputy mayor Cllr Maium Talukdar, Cabinet Member for Education and Lifelong Learning, added: “Thank you and well done to our teams and partners who have achieved such great praise from the inspection. We will be formulating an action plan to address the areas for improvement to ensure we can robustly tackle child sexual abuse in our borough.
“This latest partnership inspection is further evidence of our high-quality local practice and builds on the Outstanding rated inspecting local authority children’s services (ILACS) inspection in November 2024, and positive Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) inspection in June 2025.”
Shane DeGaris, group chief executive of Barts Health NHS Trust, said: “Safeguarding children is a shared responsibility, and this report highlights the strength of partnership working across Tower Hamlets. I’m proud of the contribution of NHS staff, whose compassionate and skilled work helps ensure children are heard, protected and supported. By working closely with partners, we can continue strengthening services and improving outcomes for children.”
Posted on Friday 15th May 2026