Three councils receive 'good' ratings for children's services

Wigan, Wolverhampton and Harrow all received the positive ratings from the inspectorate after visits during January and February this year.

Wigan received particular praise for its adoption work, which was rated as "outstanding". Inspectors said physical and emotional health, as well as academic progress, all significantly improved for children with an adoption plan in place, as a result of the work of the council's adoption service.

Inspectors added that effective collaboration between children's social workers and the adoption team ensures that suitable families are identified in a timely manner, based on a holistic understanding of children's needs.

Wigan's focus on effective partnerships across health, justice and education services is another strength highlighted in the report.

In Harrow, inspectors found "strong and effective" leadership in place, which ensures support for looked-after children and care leavers is well designed and delivered.

This meant social workers have manageable caseloads, access to good support and training, and are afforded the time to build strong bonds with children.

"Social workers see children regularly," the report states. 

"They use good direct work to come to know them well and build relationships of trust with them. This helps to improve the outcomes that children achieve.

"Social workers are able to do this because they have manageable caseloads. A strong focus on, and investment in, recruiting sufficient social workers makes this possible." 

Meanwhile, in Wolverhampton, inspectors were particularly impressed by the work of the multi-agency safeguarding hub (Mash) as the first point of contact for concerns about children.

The inspection report states: "With good links to the emergency duty team, timely information-sharing and robust management oversight, the Mash ensures that appropriate action is taken to safeguard and protect children and young people, including those who go missing and/or are at risk of being sexually exploited."

Wolverhampton's focus on effective edge of care services, to prevent family breakdown, was also praised.

"As a result, children only become looked-after when it is right that they should," the report adds.

But while all were handed individual 'good' ratings for their looked-after children support, work with care leavers and leadership and management, concerns were raised around elements of their child protection work, with all councils told this area "requires improvement".

In Wolverhampton, inspectors noted the quality of assessments, including child in need and child protection plans, is variable. Ofsted also wants to see children given a stronger voice in plans.

Support for missing children, when they return home, was found to be patchy in Wigan, with inspectors wanting to see improvements in the analysis of information from return home interviews.

Meanwhile, in Harrow concerns were raised over the limited involvement of health professionals in strategy discussions, which were found mainly to just involve police and social workers.