I won't quit: Council leader's defiant stance after Blackpool Council's damning Ofsted report

On the back of yet another damning Ofsted report, Coun Blackburn admitted it was "unacceptable" to have had two 'inadequate' ratings - the lowest the watchdog can give - during his time in charge.

But he said it would be "wrong" to resign and walk away from the problem.

Today's report founds the council's children's social care services to be inadequate, a step back from 2014 when it was graded as needing improvement. Ofsted previously rated it 'inadequate' back in 2012.

Among a catalogue of damning findings, inspectors singled out the political leadership at the council for criticism as they said improvements were not being made quickly enough - leaving children in "neglectful circumstances" for too long.

Coun Blackburn said: “No politician wants to hear that arguably the most important service in the council is considered to be inadequate.”

But he said he would not be resigning over the issue, and instead would be sitting on an Improvement Board which will be established.

Coun Blackburn said: “Have I thought about the fact children’s services have failed twice on my watch? Yes, absolutely.

“Have I considered whether I am the best person to turn that around? Absolutely. But I believe I am.

“For anyone to just walk into the sunset and allow someone else to fix this, is wrong.”

He said while poverty and transience played a part in making it a challenge to care for vulnerable children in Blackpool, these were not excuses for the poor performance.

He added: “It is always going to be a challenge here until our long term plans around housing and the economy come to fruition.

“Children’s care is the one thing that has consistently caused me to lose sleep and it will continue to do so.”

He also backed director of children’s services Diane Booth, who has been in post 18 months, and cabinet secretary for children’s services Coun Graham Cain.

Coun Blackburn, whose own professional background is in children’s social care, said the inspectors had “acknowledged the significant impact” made by Ms Booth since she joined the council.

He added: “Likewise, I have every confidence in cabinet secretary Graham Cain and the chief executive Neil Jack, to assist and support her in this task.

“Diane’s senior management team and our staff who work at the grassroots level with children and families, are amongst the most committed and professional people it has been my pleasure to work alongside, and they will be given every opportunity and resource to support their improvement journey.”

This includes an additional £1.2m of funding to the annual £40m cost of running children’s services.

Around a quarter of Blackpool’s children in care are originally from outside the town, and Coun Blackburn said it was difficult to turn back the tide of families moving to the resort hoping for a better life, particularly because accommodation was so cheap.

He said: “This is exactly the place you would flee to if you’re trying to escape from drug or alcohol abuse, the police, or from an abusive relationship.

“So we do soak all of that up and it all comes back to housing.”

Inspectors say since the 2014 inspection “the pace of progress has been too slow, and there has been a decline in strategic leadership”.

Although there has been a focus on improvement since the appointment of Ms Booth “it has not led to the level of improvement required”, they added.