Ofsted finds 'significant progress' at trust-run children's services

Following a monitoring visit to Doncaster Children's Services Trust in October, the inspectorate found there had been "significant progress" in improving the quality of social work and tackling "drift and delay".

This is the second monitoring visit into the work of the trust - which took over running children's social care provision from the council in October 2014 - since Ofsted handed it an inadequate rating in November 2015.

In a letter to Doncaster's director of children's services Damien Allen, Ofsted said that quality assurance was a "particular strength" and there were clear plans in place to deliver lasting improvements.

There is "increased stability" in the children's social care workforce, particularly through the recruitment of permanent team managers, inspectors noted.

Use of agency staff is at 11 per cent, caseloads are reducing and training for staff is targeted to address areas where practice needs to improve, they added.

In addition, inspectors were impressed that the voice of children is clear in the vast majority of cases seen.

They added that social workers felt that Doncaster is now a much safer place for children and the employees of the trust.

Despite the positive comments, inspectors remain concerned around the quality of care plans, which in some cases lacked focus and detail, while plans presented to courts were "not sufficiently comprehensive".

The inspection team also said there needs to be greater improvement in pre-proceedings work through the Public Law Outline. Work in this area is not of "sufficient quality or effectively reviewed". This means work before cases come to court continues to be hampered by lack of consistency and timeliness.

The first monitoring visit, which took place in August, found that the trust had "responded meaningfully" to recommendations made by inspectors the previous year, but also questioned the quality of assessments.

Concerns over child protection in Doncaster date back to 2009, when two brothers looked after by the council were jailed for torturing a nine- and 11-year-old.

In 2013, then Education Secretary Michael Gove decided to strip the council of responsibility for children's social care because of persistent failure to improve.