Child left alone with convicted abuser

The Public Services Ombudsman for Wales has criticised Pembrokeshire County Council for being "tardy" in instigating child protection procedures.

The West Wales council dealt with the case of Child A five years ago. Yesterday council chiefs accepted the findings of the report but insisted that standards had risen since.

They also said the father of the child was now happy with the arrangements for his son.

An inquiry was triggered when the father of Child A complained about council delays in investigating his concerns.

At the time, the man had stopped living at the family home and was concerned about the care his son was receiving there.

An NSPCC referral that the boy was being left unsupervised with a family member convicted of child abuse was not properly investigated, the ombudsman found.

The report into the complaint said: "When inquiries were made about this several months later, it prompted a child protection conference. Overall, the investigation confirmed serious shortcomings."

The report added the council was tardy in initiating child protection procedures, which led to an 18-month delay before A was registered as a child at risk

The council acknowledged the criticisms, saying there were complicated issues and social workers had to make difficult judgments on information from different sources.