A damning report from Ofsted into a private fostering service has laid bare the serious problems at the Shipley-based business, including one foster carer prioritising their dog over a child.

Viola Fostering Services, based in Salts Mill Road, was rated inadequate in all areas by Ofsted following the visit earlier this summer.

On its first inspection since Viola was formed in 2018, Ofsted found “serious and widespread failures that mean children and young people are not protected or their welfare is not promoted or safeguarded, and the care and experiences of children and young people are poor and they are not making progress”.

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Following the inspection, Viola Fostering Services was suspended from working, as the Telegraph & Argus previously reported, and in a second monitoring visit a month later, inspectors had “no confidence” in the service and kept the suspension in place.

In the inspection report, Ofsted said: “Serious and widespread failures leave children being harmed or at risk of harm, or their welfare not being safeguarded.

“Furthermore, ineffective leadership and management have led to some children’s and young people’s overall experiences being poor, and not all have made progress.

These deficiencies compromise the safety and well-being of children. Consequently, children and young people have been placed with foster carers who do not have the skills, capacity or insight to meet their complex and diverse needs" - Ofsted report

“The assessments of foster carers’ capacity to meet and safeguard the needs of children and young people have not been sufficiently robust.

“These deficiencies compromise the safety and well-being of children. Consequently, children and young people have been placed with foster carers who do not have the skills, capacity or insight to meet their complex and diverse needs.

“Individual children’s and young people’s positive experiences and progress are largely due to their own motivation, rather than the systems and functions of the agency.

“Allegations of physical and emotional harm made against foster carers by a child have not been managed appropriately or escalated to the designated officer for independent scrutiny.

“Children and young people are not protected from harm because foster carers do not possess the skills, experience or training and seem to lack the insight necessary to care for them safely.

“Notice was served on a child’s placement because their foster carers cited issues between their dog and the child, and the foster carers prioritised their dog.

“The responsible individual – Maria Zammit – has demonstrated poor leadership and management oversight of the agency.

“This has resulted directly in serious or widespread failures that leave children and young people being harmed, at risk of harm.

“The director of this fostering agency – Margaret Firth – had undertaken initial visits to potential foster carers, attended a looked after children’s review and acted as the panel adviser, all of which fall outside of the remit of her director role.

“She has also been struck off the health and care professions council’s register and cannot practice as a social worker or have any day-to-day involvement in the agency in line with her registration.”

Margaret Firth resigned from her role as a director at Viola Fostering on July 25, two days after the second inspection report.

In that report, it found Maria Zammit had done online safeguarding training, but was “unable to articulate” on the roles and responsibilities of the designated officer.

Ofsted said: “This did not instil confidence in the credibility and effectiveness of the recent training undertaken by the responsible individual.

“Safeguarding policy referred to guidance several years out of date, and inappropriate language that describes child sexual exploitation as ‘prostitution’ has not been removed from the documentation.”

Inspectors added: “Ofsted has no confidence in the current responsible individual or the designated safeguarding lead.

“Ofsted does not believe they have acted with sufficient haste or taken seriously the safeguarding concerns in order to address the specific steps outlined in the compliance notice.

“In light of these concerns, Ofsted has found that insufficient progress has been made to warrant the suspension notice being lifted. Ofsted believes this would place children at continued risk of harm.”

Viola Fostering Services could not be reached for comment.