Blackpool children's services 'require improvement'

The "requires improvement" rating comes two years after the authority was rated "inadequate" in its previous Ofsted inspection.

The latest unannounced inspection, which was conducted in July, found that there had been “insufficient focus on improving services for care leavers”.

“The level and quality of support that care leavers receive is inconsistent and does not deliver good outcomes for many young people,” the report states.

“Pathway plans are not sufficiently outcome-focused or specific and not enough young people remain with their foster carers past their 18th birthday.”

The quality of planning for looked-after children was found to be “variable”, with, in a small number of cases seen by inspectors, risk not being fully assessed and reduced swiftly enough.

Inspectors also found that social workers do not consistently receive regular reflective supervision to support and challenge their practice.

“Performance management measures are insufficient to support managers in measuring the effectiveness of services and their impact on care leavers,” the report adds.

In addition, too many looked-after children did not have an up-to-date health assessment, and access to child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS) was found to be variable.

Inspectors did stress that no children or young people seen by inspectors were "unsafe".

"Where children and young people had been identified as being at risk of harm, speedy action was taken to reduce risk in all cases seen," the report said.

Meanwhile, the report said that children and young people who are at risk of being sexually exploited are identified and receive a range of support appropriate to their individual needs. Services responding to domestic abuse were also praised.

Ivan Taylor, lead member for children’s services at Blackpool Council, said the report is a “big improvement” from where the authority was two years ago.

“The report recognises that we have made significant progress since the last inspection and proves that we are moving in the right direction.

“That said, there is still more work to be done before we can be satisfied that we give a good or outstanding service every time.

“To turn an entire department around from the position we were in two years ago is no easy feat, and was never going to happen overnight.

“We are talking about large organisational change here and that is a long process. We are changing the way we report cases, the way our services work and people’s attitudes across the entire department – that takes time.”