Ofsted praises Luton over improvements to children’s services

“Children and their families receive a much better service than they did,” Ofsted’s report states, however it adds, “although the impact of improvement is not yet consistent for all children”

In a damning report published in February 2020, Ofsted criticised the council’s approach to safeguarding, the quality of its child protection plans and its ability to retain high-quality social workers.

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The report highlighted “widespread and serious weaknesses” meaning some children were left “in harmful situations for too long”.

Council leaders’ commitment to do “whatever it takes to put this right” was noted in the latest inspection, with the development of “strong operational and strategic partnerships across Luton”, ensuring that the right services are provided to children in need.

The regulatory body said that children who need early help now receive “timely support” and professionals take “swift and effective action” when concerns are raised about children through the significantly strengthened multi agency safeguarding hub.

However, they added that while immediate risk is responded to effectively, assessments undertaken for some children are “not sufficiently thorough or completed at the pace needed for the child”.

"Some children continue to experience the impact of changes of social worker,” the report states, which Ofsted acknowledges is an issue affecting councils across the country.

To address this, Luton Borough Council has created a Social Work Academy, which has led to 35 social workers being appointed since it was established.

A new team has also been appointed to support children in care, which has “helped reduce workloads” and given staff “time to work more effectively”.

Most children in care now live in a stable home, the adoption service is strong and social workers are aware of risks that children may be exposed to and provide good support to help them manage the impact of negative experiences, the report states.

Ofsted praised the council for rising to the challenge of providing accommodation and meeting the needs of significant numbers of unaccompanied asylum seeking children.

Councillor Tahmina Saleem, portfolio holder for children’s services, said that while it was going to take time to turn the service around from where it was back in 2020, the report published today clearly states children and families in Luton are “better supported, better protected and significant improvements have been made across the service”.

She added: “Despite the significant progress, we acknowledge we need to make further improvements so that all children in Luton can thrive and have the life opportunities they deserve. We remain completely focused upon continuing to make positive changes based on what Ofsted has told us and the improvement plans already in place.

“We can be proud of the significant progress we have made and it is absolutely right to acknowledge and thank our staff, partners and leadership team for their hard work, drive and determination. Together they have delivered significant improvements across the service throughout what has been the most challenging of times during the pandemic.”