Ofsted: Three-quarters of children's services departments 'not good enough'
Joe Lepper
Monday, March 9, 2015
Less than a quarter of local authority children's departments inspected by Ofsted last year were found to be providing effective social care services.
The inspectorate’s second Annual Social Care Report found that of the 43 children’s services inspections carried out in 2013/14, only 10 councils were rated as providing a "good" standard of care and protection.
Of the remaining 33 authorities inspected, seven were rated as "inadequate" and 26 "required improvement". None were rated "outstanding".
Local authorities' struggles have coincided with the introduction of Ofsted's tougher single inspection framework in November 2013. In January, CYP Now revealed that nearly half of councils inspected under the new framework had seen a fall in their rating.
The inspectorate says many councils are struggling to cope with rising demand for services and increasing financial pressures. Ofsted noted that during 2013/14 the number of looked-after children rose to its highest level since 1987 and there was a 12 per cent increase in the number of child protection plans.
Ofsted also found a number of common issues affecting the poorest performers, in particular a lack of investment in early intervention services.
Another area of concern was poor-quality work by local safeguarding children boards (LSCBs). Three out of four LSCBs inspected so far have been found to be “less than good” with eight rated as inadequate in supporting joint local safeguarding efforts.
The inspectorate is calling on government to ensure LSCBs' role is strengthened with more power to oversee and take action on safeguarding matters locally.
Among other concerns raised by Ofsted is a lack of continuity at a senior level, with a third of councils changing their director of children’s services (DCS) at least once over the course of 2013/14.
Issues affecting children’s services leadership is the subject of a separate report released today, which aims to offer advice for DCSs on improving services.
Debbie Jones, Ofsted’s national director for social care, said: “Inspectors have seen examples of high-quality practice, which puts the outcomes for children at the heart of decision making.
"These areas demonstrate that it can be done, so we urge other authorities to learn from their example.
“We recognise, however, the context and constraints within which social workers and their managers work – they have a difficult and demanding role and do not always get the support and recognition they deserve.”
Child sexual exploitation (CSE) emerged as a key area of concern over the last year, with Ofsted noting too many councils were still failing to tackle the issue, echoing concerns it raised last November.
While the report acknowledges that at a senior level CSE is being given “more strategic priority” it adds that “some services are not yet sufficiently alert to the risk which children and young people face, or equipped to provide responsive services to meet their needs”. A key concern is that councils are still not acting swiftly enough when children in care go missing, despite this group being among the most vulnerable to CSE.
Councils that fail to identify and tackle CSE will be rated as inadequate the inspectorate has warned, plus CSE is to be among specific areas targeted in multi-agency inspections that take place from this year and involve police, probation and health sector inspectorates.
Inspectors also noted an increase in the number of inadequate children’s homes, rising from five to six per cent between 2012/13 and 2013/14.
David Simmonds, chair of the Local Government Association's children and young people board, said: “Children’s services are creaking under the strain as they work to protect the most vulnerable children from abuse, neglect and child sexual exploitation.
“High-profile crimes of abuse and neglect have brought sharply into focus the need for vigilance.
"As a result, there are rightly thousands more children on the radar of social services now.
"But this is in a climate where councils have faced cuts to their budgets of 40 per cent since 2010."
Lily Caprani, director of strategy and policy at The Children’s Society, said it is "deeply worrying" that so many councils are providing children’s social care that is not good enough.
"If three-quarters of schools were found to be failing, people would say this was a crisis and demand immediate action," she added.
"Addressing the holes in the system should be a top priority.
“We welcome Ofsted strengthening its focus on child sexual exploitation and on children who go missing.
"But it is a concern that some services are still not recognising the risks children face and fail to respond appropriately.
"The government needs to ensure that local councils and safeguarding boards have the powers and funding to do their job properly."