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Ofsted inspectors say Leicestershire County Council has made improvements in many areas of its children’s social care services.
In a report published today (4 November), the regulator has set out where considerable progress has been made by the authority since 2017, but outlines that improvements are still needed in some areas.
The outcome of the inspection is that the council’s ratings for supporting children in care, as well as leadership, have improved to ‘good’ from ‘requires improvement’.
For children in need of help and protection, and for overall effectiveness, the service still 'requires improvement to be good'.
Inspectors also praised a number of areas, such as the strength of support to disabled children, a good variety of Early Help services and the support available to children in care and care leavers.
The county council says immediate action is being taken to address the issues identified, which includes more consistent oversight of care plans and tackling the timeliness of assessments for children, who are not identified as being in immediate risk of significant harm.
The report sets out a very strong message that progress has been made in many areas of children’s services through the improvements made in the department to produce better outcomes for children.
The services provided for children in Leicestershire are having a positive impact on people’s lives.
We also acknowledge that the challenge, as Ofsted has outlined, is to ensure these services are consistently delivered to meet the needs of children and their families.
Person:Ivan Ould, county council cabinet member for children and families
Ofsted also recognised:
- Effectiveness in keeping the most vulnerable young people safe from harm;
- Most children in care are settled in good homes with their needs well met and they are making good progress;
- Most care leavers live in suitable accommodation and are participating in education, training and employment;
- There is a timely and effective response when children rst need help and protection;
- Good quality placements for children in care;
- Young people being encouraged to express their views;
- Progress in recruiting and retaining staff
Further developments include:
- Timeliness of assessment and help for those children not at immediate risk of significant harm;
- Timeliness of work to secure positive change for children during the pre-proceedings stage of child protection procedures;
- The quality and consistency of social work practice in care planning;
- Quality of case recording
The Ofsted inspection took place during three weeks in late September-early October.
The report is available to view at:
https://files.ofsted.gov.uk/v1/file/50121477
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