A fostering service has been criticised for widespread failures which have jeopardised children’s safety and put them at risk of exploitation.

Ofsted inspectors visited Future Fostering in Green Street Green Road, Dartford, last month following concerns raised during a previous monitoring visit.

Interviews with the director and registered manager had found "a complete breakdown in their working relationship had occurred", and the subsequent monitoring visit revealed a series of failures.

The latest report released said officers identified "a significant number of regulatory breaches that question the fitness of the agency, adding: "Serious and widespread failures of the agency’s safeguarding practice were found to present serious risks to the children’s welfare and safety.

“Inadequate matching has resulted in the children being placed with foster carers who do not have the necessary knowledge or skills to meet their needs.

"This has resulted in children being placed in inappropriate and unsafe placements.”

At the time of the monitoring inspection, there were 38 approved fostering households and 52 children in placement.

The report said children at high risk of sexual exploitation had been placed with foster carers who did not have adequate training or relevant skills, adding: “Consequently, such children remain at significant risk of being exploited further.”

Other failings included poor-quality risk assessments; failure to complete sufficient safeguarding training and unsafe recruitment procedures, which resulted in the employment of unvetted staff – including the registered manager, responsible individual, supervising social workers, independent assessors, reviewing officers and panel members.

On one occasion a child noted to be at high risk of exploitation was missing from care, but staff merely accepted the child was staying with friends, although nothing was known about those friends.

In another instance a social worker failed to recognise the impact of a foster carer’s poor approach to the emotional well-being of a child with significant mental health needs.

Leaders and managers had failed to notify Ofsted of significant incidents – such as police attending fostering households and the hospitalisation of children.

The report added: “The responsible individual and the registered manager are in direct conflict with each other.

"They work in isolation and this has resulted in a fragmented staff team, where individuals demonstrate an allegiance to either the responsible individual or the registered manager.

"This is an untenable situation.

"Serious and widespread failures of the agency's safeguarding practice were found to present serious risks to the children's welfare and safety" - Ofsted inspectors

“Personal and professional conflicts and disagreements undermine the day-to-day operation of the agency. This is undermining the safety and the quality of the fostering households.

“There has been a failure by leaders and managers to recognise and act on serious and widespread failures across the agency or to address shortfalls and make improvements.

"The agency does not have a development plan and there are no systems in place to drive improvement.”

Overall, the catalogue of failings "raise serious questions about the fitness of the agency" added the report.

When our sister paper the Dartford Messenger contacted Future Fostering a man identified himself as the director, but would not confirm his name, although Pankaj Gupta is listed as the director on Future Fostering’s website.

“We’re working on getting this sorted,” he said.

“We had a meeting yesterday; we’ve responded to these things and it seems to be going on a positive track.”

He said the “complete breakdown” between the director and manager reported by Ofsted, had now been resolved.

“That’s not the case any more,” he explained. "Everything has moved on and it’s fine now.

“We’re working on things and they seem satisfied with that progress.”