AN inspection has praised the work of professionals involved in child protection services in Newport.

Care Inspectorate Wales, Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services, Healthcare Inspectorate Wales, Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Probation and Estyn carried out the in-depth inspection last December.

It was the first multi-agency inspection of its kind.

It evaluated how the council, Aneurin Bevan University Health Board, Gwent Police, and the Probation Service respond to child exploitation.

The joint inspection found many strengths in all the services and made recommendations where it was felt improvements could be made.

The report said: "We found staff and professionals demonstrated a good understanding of the nature of work in relation to children and families who are at risk or are experiencing exploitation.

"We found the police force has made a significant investment to make sure the team responsible for investigating child abuse is fully staffed.

"Officers have been provided with specialist child abuse investigator training, as have their supervisors.

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"There was effective joint working between school leaders through established groups such as the ‘managed moves’ group, and more recently, the involvement of multi-agency leaders at the ‘School Exclusion and Exploitation Partners’ group and the ‘Serious Organised Crime’ group.

"The Youth Justice Service has access to good information about the service it delivers and the information manager provides information to the board and team managers to help plan service delivery."

However, the report found that more support needed to be made available to children in Welsh-medium education.

They described the approach to those children as "too reactive".

While more work needs to be done to ensure all agencies are represented at the safeguarding hub, the report found.

Councillor Jane Mudd, leader of the council, said: "We have extremely dedicated staff doing crucial work in collaboration with other agencies to try and keep children safe from physical, sexual or emotional harm.

"I'm pleased that the inspectors found so many positive aspects of this work in Newport and grateful that they have highlighted areas where we can do better.

"We will take those recommendations on board because we want to make sure every child in the city is protected and properly cared for."