An inspection of provision in Brent found that strong leadership at a political level and throughout the council had resulted in
significant improvements in the quality of social work practice for children since the last inspection in 2015 when it was rated "requires improvement".
"The care for children and care leavers is outstanding," the latest inspection report states.
"Firm foundations are now in place to facilitate and enable good or better social work to flourish.
"Senior leaders recognise and prioritise the needs of children and young
people. They focus their attention on the things that matter and inspire staff to perform well."
Inspectors said that staff and managers are ambitious for children and young people, placing the experiences of children and young people at the heart of social work practice.
"Practitioners and managers are committed to providing children, young people and care leavers with long-term stability during childhood and beyond. This means that their outcomes are improving.
"There is a strong focus on early permanence and staying safe.
Inspectors also found that children and young people receive early help and protection when they need it, with the quality of child and family assessments deemed to be good.
But while safeguarding practice was found to be effective, it did not always follow statutory guidance or comply with the council's own policy.
The council was also praised for commissioning effective gang intervention programmes designed for children and young people on the periphery of gangs.
Specific funding has secured an early help gangs mentor who was found to work effectively across social work teams to try to divert young people from gang activity and help young people exit gangs.
"A large majority of young people have engaged with the worker, and there have been significant reductions in risk for young people," the report states.
Gail Tolley, director of children's services in Brent, said: "The overall judgment of good is the best ever achieved by children's services in Brent and this grade, as well as the contributory grades, reflect the outcomes achieved collectively across all services in both safeguarding, partnerships and strategy and integration and improved outcomes.
"Alongside the high percentage of good and outstanding schools which also act as a protective factor, this makes Brent currently one of the highest performing children's services authorities in London."
