In March 2015, when Somerset County Council’s children’s services was rated “inadequate” by Ofsted for the second time in two years, the Department for Education considered taking children’s services out of its control, in much the same way as it had in Doncaster and Slough in 2014.
But since then, with support from Essex County Council, progress has been made. Although the council is still rated inadequate, the DfE is satisfied enough to allow it more time to turn things around and maintain responsibility for services.
So how has the authority staved off more stringent intervention?
Diagnosing the problems
Following Somerset’s inadequate rating in March 2015, the DfE appointed Essex County Council director of children’s services Dave Hill, to work with Somerset. He and his team of Essex managers provided around 157 days of work with Somerset between April to September.
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