Ofsted criticises council over ‘inadequate experiences and progress of care leavers’
Amrit Virdi
Friday, February 9, 2024
Peterborough's children’s services have been rated “inadequate” by Ofsted, partly due to its lack of support for care leavers and a “lack of sufficient leadership focus”.
The inspectorate handed the local authority an “inadequate” rating in its report after a visit in November last year due to a “deterioration in the quality of practice, and in the experience and progress of children and young people", particularly those in care.
The “quality of support, advice, and guidance for care leavers, including those with additional vulnerabilities” and “consistency and quality of social work assessments” were areas noted by inspectors as needing improvement.
“Service capacity” and “the identification and response to increased vulnerability when children are electively home educated or missing from education” were also criticised.
Children’s services in Peterborough were previously rated as “good” following an inspection in June 2018.
Ofsted also criticised assessments of children in care, saying “most children do not receive a timely initial assessment of their health needs when they first enter care” and “lack of sufficiency means some children are not initially placed in homes that are well matched to their needs”.
Care leavers were also found to “not receive the support they need to make progress in their lives”, with a lack of relationships to personal advisers leading to “understandable disengagement”.
The local authority was also criticised for not offering enough services to those leaving care, with inspectors noting that “financial support to access Wi-Fi is not routinely provided”. Some care leavers are also said to have “sofa surfed” after leaving care.
Yet the council's new leadership team were praised, with the report stating that they “quickly grasped the scale and nature of the improvement that is needed”.
Children in need of protection and those with more complex needs also “receive appropriate support from safeguarding teams”.
Social workers were seen to “form positive relationships with children” and children in care “are supported to remain in contact with people who are important to them”.
Peterborough’s director of children’s services, John Gregg, said: “I am sorry that children’s services in Peterborough are not currently at the standard they should be to ensure all children are receiving the support and care they so rightly deserve.
"Since March our focus has been on putting robust plans in place to ensure every child who needs our support is getting it, at the right time and in the best way to support their needs. Over the coming months we will be working closely with our staff, partners and the improvement board to ensure the work we have started gathers pace.”
