Inspectors visited Hampshire County Council between 10-14 June and rated the local authority’s children’s services as “outstanding”.
This is the second consecutive time that the service has received the inspectorate's highest rating which it also achieved in 2019.
Inspectors noted that children “continue to benefit from strong and effective services that make a positive difference to their lives” as “senior leaders have retained their absolute focus on the progress and experiences of children, while successfully delivering wholescale culture change and service transformation” through a new family help model.
Joint working between “political, corporate and children’s services senior leaders” was said to be running “exceptionally well” while “significant investment” in the workforce enabled “strong performance”.
Children who need help and protection were found to receive “timely and effective responses” from multi-agency safeguarding hubs and social workers, with workers building relationships with children through regular visits.
Children were found to enter care “in a planned way” with thinking around long-term plans starting early and a focus on keeping siblings together. Care leavers were found to have designed new initiatives to have more influential voices in the system.
Areas noted for improvement were the take-up and quality of return conversations with children who go missing from home and care, and the quality of senior management oversight of children living in private fostering arrangements.
Councillor Roz Chadd, the council’s cabinet lead member for children’s services, said: “We have always been proud of the quality of our children’s services. Of our many legal responsibilities as a local authority, supporting children and young people to get the best possible start in life and protecting those who are most vulnerable, are undoubtedly amongst the most important. Our latest Ofsted inspection confirms again that we continue to do this to the very highest national standards, despite the backdrop of growing demand and complexity in the needs of children locally – a situation mirrored across the country.”
Last week Halton Borough Council apologised after inspectors found a "significant deterioration" in areas of its children’s services.
