London borough moves out of 'inadequate' following Ofsted inspection

Following a visit in May inspectors found that senior officers and councillors had worked hard strengthening the quality of children's services since Ofsted inspectors graded them as "inadequate" overall in December 2015.

Children in need of help and protection as well as those with disabilities were found to be identified and supported swiftly.

There is also an effective response to incidents where children go missing and are at risk of sexual exploitation. Inspectors also noted that work is under way to improve support for children at risk of gang affiliation.

"Senior leaders have worked diligently to strengthen the quality of children's services, implementing recommendations and learning from their improvement plan, quality assurance activities and seven Ofsted monitoring visits," states Ofsted's inspection report.

"Significant financial investment and an understanding by senior leaders of the strengths and areas for development within the service have underpinned the improvements to the quality of help and support provided to children and families across most areas, and no aspects of the service have been judged inadequate."

Inspectors said they were particularly impressed with improvements to care leavers services, which they rated "good", after being found to be "inadequate" during their 2015 visit.

They found that most young people who have left care live in good-quality accommodation, feel safe, have a good relationship with their personal advisers and are doing well in education, work or training.

"The quality of services for care leavers has greatly improved," states the inspection report. 

"Care leavers are supported well and make good progress. There is a wide range of suitable and safe accommodation. A good proportion of care leavers move into education, training or employment."

The council's work with Wandsworth's Children Living in Care Kouncil (Click) which includes looked-after children aged between six and 18, was also praised.

"They value the regular meetings with strategic leaders, who listen to their views and act on their behalf," states Ofsted's inspection report.

"Click is actively involved in a range of activities, including residential trips, the redesign of the new children's home and the commissioning specification for care leavers' accommodation."

But inspectors said a number of improvements are still needed, in particular to reduce high caseloads and high turnover among social workers.

"Turnover in the social care workforce is gradually reducing. The increase in the number of social workers is leading to reduced caseloads," states the report.  

"However, caseloads remain high in some teams and this is affecting the quality and effectiveness of support for some children.

"The high turnover of workers, particularly first-line managers, is having a detrimental impact on children. It impacts on the quality and rigour of supervision, resulting in delay in progressing plans for too many children and is a threat to further improvement to the quality and consistency of practice."

Wandsworth had been subject to a Department for Education improvement notice since August 2016 but this has been closed following Ofsted's latest visit.

Sarah McDermott, Wandsworth Council's lead member for children's services said: "This report clearly shows that children's services are moving in the right direction and I would like to thank staff for their dedication and hard work in helping improve the work of the department.

"The support and protection of our children and young people is vital to this borough and it is so important that we can now say with confidence that children in Wandsworth are safe, that the quality of help and support provided to children and families has improved and that the department no longer needs outside intervention."