Agenda item

To receive an update on the outcome and actions arising from the July 2024 Ofsted inspection of Children’s Services.

The Service Delivery Manager: Children’s Safeguarding & Family Support presented a report to the Committee which outlined the findings from the Ofsted inspection of Local Authority Children’s Services (ILACS) which took place between 29 April and 3 May 2024.

Prior to the most recent inspection, the Council’s Children’s Services last received an ILACS inspection in January 2020 whereby the Council were the only local authority in the region to receive an ‘outstanding’ judgement as a result of the inspection. The most recent inspection in 2024 had concluded that the Council’s Children’s Services had maintained its ‘outstanding’ judgement and were 1 of 30 local authorities to receive this judgement out of 151 that had undergone inspection. The Council were also subsequently 1 of 5 local authorities who had maintained its ‘outstanding’ judgement since its last inspection in 2020.

The inspection included four key areas for judgement:-

• Impact of Leaders
• Help & Protection
• Children in Care
• Care Leavers

Areas relating to the impact of leaders on social work practice with children and families, the experiences and progress of children in care and the experiences and progress of care leavers were judged as ‘outstanding’. The experiences and progress of children who need help and protection were  judged as ‘good’.

The report identified two areas needing improvement which included the management of contacts within Family Connect and the consistency of making children aged 16 and 17 years old who presented as homeless aware of their rights and entitlements.

Members heard that following the ILACS inspection, the Council would be required to submit an action plan to Ofsted within 70 working days outlining how it had addressed the areas that had been identified as requires improvement.  Actions had already been undertaken to address these areas including a review of contacts, introduction of new processes in Family Connect and the appointment of a Senior Lead to oversee further pathway development for children aged 16 and 17 years old who presented as homeless.

Members welcomed the report and noted the overarching themes as wholly positive and felt that the work of the service had been reflected well in the totality of the Ofsted report and final grading received of outstanding.

Following the presentation Members posed the following questions:-

Given my background in care and experience on foster panels, I understand that the Council was aware of programmes such as Foster Plus and Shared Lives. One child I worked with had special educational needs and transitioned from care to living alone in a flat in London without a support network. When referring to consistency in making 16 and 17 olds who presented as homeless aware of their rights, can the Council confirm if these children were they children from care? If so, when transitioning from care, did the Council ensure ongoing support was available for these children, and was there a support network for them through the VCS?

The Director: Children’s Safeguarding & Family Support offered assurances to Members  that the children presented to the Council as being homeless were not children in care. Members were informed that the Council’s offer was very comprehensive and that the team had continued to work with housing colleagues to ensure support was provided in terms of accommodation.

Was there an update on items 7 and 8 of the Ofsted action plan which included developing a range of information platforms for young people which had a due date of 31 October 2024?

The Director: Children’s Safeguarding & Family Support confirmed that meetings had taken place with the Dandelion Group to devise leaflets appropriate for young people. The leaflets were due to be designed by the Council’s internal team and would include the use of QR codes.

Did the Council recognise and identify young people who  need additional support to either stay or get into higher education and does the Council have an approach to address this?

The Director: Education & Skills confirmed that the Council have a dedicated Virtual School team and undertake strong governance and monitoring for children in care. Members were also informed that the Council continues to acknowledge the additional support that is required for some children and had been working with schools in order to recognise these needs.

The contents of the report and action plan was noted.