South Gloucestershire Council’s Children’s Services have been rated as Good by Ofsted, following their inspection in June this year.
Children’s Services cover a wide range of support and interventions that the council provides to support families and protect children in need of help when families are struggling, for example.
The service was rated as ‘requires improvement to be good’ in 2019, and staff throughout the team have worked incredibly hard to make sure that young people’s experiences in South Gloucestershire have improved significantly since then.
The report said that the pace of progress had accelerated in recent years and that ‘services for children in need of help, care and support have significantly improved’.
The report highlighted that ‘a stable senior leadership team, increased investment, strengthened partner agency working and a whole council approach to children, have all contributed to improved services that are bettering the lives of children and young people in South Gloucestershire’.
Councillor Maggie Tyrrell, who was the Cabinet Member responsible for Children and Young People until she was selected as Leader of the council last week, said: “I am really pleased that the incredibly hard work of all the staff in this very complex and challenging area of work is paying off and has been recognised.
“Most importantly of course, the support that young people and their families receive is improving, but the hard work of so many social workers, support staff, managers and leaders means that once again we can be proud of our service and know that we are giving our most vulnerable children the help they need.”
South Gloucestershire Council Cabinet Member for Children and Young People, Cllr Simon Johnson, said: “We want to continue to improve, and there are plans in place to do that. My message to our staff is a big thank you, for putting the children who need you at the centre of what you do. The work these teams do changes lives for the better, it is vital, and I am so pleased it is being recognised.”
Ofsted inspectors examined and graded several elements of the work done by children’s services teams, including the impact of leaders on social work; practice with children and families; the experiences and progress of children who need help and protection; the experiences and progress of children in care; and the experiences and progress of care leavers. In all areas, and in terms of overall effectiveness, the service was rated as Good.
The inspectors highlighted that staff were supported by a well-targeted corporate plan; by an impactful quality assurance framework; and bolstered by clear practice standards. They described the support for children and their families as ‘high-quality’.
They also pointed to the effectiveness of the department’s early help service, which allows social workers and others to support children and their families before issues might escalate. The way that council staff work well and closely with colleagues in partner organisations, such as in health and police, through a newly created multi-agency safeguarding hub (MASH), was commended.
Children are also kept informed and consulted about the support they receive, which makes them feel that the service has their welfare and best interests at its core.
South Gloucestershire Council’s Executive Director of the People department, Chris Sivers, said: “Effective children’s services have to put those children at the very heart of everything we do. Our staff do that every day and that’s helped improve the way they practice.
“The inspectors were also impressed with the way we include feedback on the experiences of the children and families we work with into our plans for improvement. This is really important to us because we know the best outcomes are achieved when we work collaboratively with families.
“I am so impressed with the commitment and dedication of all our staff who work to help the young people who need us, and thrilled for them, that Ofsted as well as the children and families they work with have recognised that effort.
“We know we have more work to do. Ofsted have highlighted how we can do some things even better, and our aim every day is to do the best it’s possible to do to protect the most vulnerable in our communities.”
The Ofsted report can be found on their website: https://files.ofsted.gov.uk/v1/file/50253185.
