Ofsted praises 'outstanding' Cornwall children's services for focus on participation

Among work praised is Cornwall County Council's involvement in Gweres Tus Yowynk Adolescent Service, a dedicated multi-agency service for teenagers.

The partnership between the youth offending service and the adolescent service, whose title is Cornish for "helping young people", has a strong focus on involving this demographic in decisions, according to Ofsted.
Social workers and foster carers also benefit from psychologists being based within the service, which helps with planning, say inspectors. 

"Creative and innovative services have continued to flourish through Gweres Tus Yowynk, the dedicated multi-agency edge of care service," states the report.

It adds: "A significantly improved focus on participation with children in care ensures that children's voices are heard and acted on."

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Inspectors have rated as "outstanding" the council's children's services leadership, support for children in care and care leavers as well as its overall effectiveness.

"Political and corporate leaders demonstrate strong commitment to children's services, and have supported whole-council investment," states Ofsted's report.

"Combined with the leadership team's unwavering focus on continuous improvement, this has resulted in strengthened services."

Meanwhile, child protection work is rated "good". Inspectors welcomed the quality of early help to children at risk of harm, especially through its multi-agency referral unit, which has a strong focus on information sharing and working with families.

But inspectors noted that the quality of plans "is too variable".

"Social workers can articulate clear and well-targeted plans, but this is not always translated into high-quality written plans for children," states Ofsted's report.

The council's director of children's services Trevor Doughty, said the achievement reflects the culture of partnership working across the council "to improve the lives of children and young people in Cornwall".

Cabinet member for children Sally Hawken said: "I was particularly pleased with the way inspectors recognised how we engage with and listen to children and young people."

In 2016, when the council received its previous overall inspection, child protection support was labelled as "requires improvement", while adoption support, leadership and help for care leavers was rated as "good".