Inspectors praise council for maintaining 'good' children's services
Joe Lepper
Tuesday, May 22, 2018
A council has been praised by inspectors for averting a decline in the performance of its children's services due to rising demand and budget cuts.
Ofsted said that a multi-agency inspection conducted in 2016 found that financial cutbacks and a significant rise in demand had resulted in a deterioration in the quality of support Oxfordshire County Council was able to offer children in need of help and protection.
But following a visit under the inspection of local authority children's services (ILACS) inspection framework, introduced earlier this year, Ofsted found that the overall effectiveness of children's services is "good". Services had previously been rated good at its last inspection in 2014.
Inspectors praised additional financial investment and a restructure in the department that has bolstered early help and the effectiveness of frontline staff.
Early help through local support teams for children at risk of being taken into care was found to have been a particular success. Between early 2017 and February this year the number of early help assessments more than doubled and led to a 26 per cent reduction in contacts to children's social care.
The majority of looked-after children live with carers who meet their needs effectively, and receive a good service while in care and leaving care, inspectors found.
Reduced caseloads have also helped improve workforce stability and kept the use of temporary staff to a minimum.
"In 2015/16, a significant rise in demand across all areas of the service, combined with a reduction in resources as part of council-wide efficiency savings, led to a decline in the quality of some services, particularly for those children in need of help and protection," states Ofsted's inspection report.
"Senior leaders have taken rigorous action to respond to this deterioration. Significant additional financial investment, combined with a large-scale restructure in 2017, has led to an improved early help service, increased capacity in frontline staffing and an enhanced service for children in care.
"Consequently, at this inspection the overall effectiveness of children's services is judged to be good.
The report adds: "Social workers are positive about working for Oxfordshire. Leaders and managers are visible and available."
The council's children in care and care leaver services, as well as the impact of its leaders, are all rated "good" although support for children who need help and protection "requires improvement to be good".
Inspectors want to see a better understanding among those working with children of thresholds for support.
They also want to see a swifter response to concerns around neglect, which means "a small minority of children remain living in unsatisfactory situations for too long".
Oxfordshire County Council's cabinet member for children and family services Steve Harrod said: "I am really pleased that we have received our third ‘good' Ofsted rating in a row at a time when we are sadly seeing more children in need of our help, protection and care.
"But we're under no illusions about the scale of the challenge ahead, and particularly the need to ensure all children receive services of the highest quality.
"The report acknowledges the positive impact of our recent service changes to handle the big increase in the number of cases of abuse and neglect we are seeing and the rise in children entering care.
"The fact that more cases are being reported at least offers some reassurance that we are working well with the police, GPs and schools so children are getting the help they need."
