Child Care Solicitors

Ofsted’s third Social Care Annual Report published on Tuesday (28/06/16) has said that there are still too many inadequate children’s services departments across the country.

The report shows that one-quarter of children’s services departments – a total of 21 – are currently rated “inadequate”, while 43 require improvement.

Ofsted found that many areas rated “inadequate” received the lowest rating for “help and protection” – the part of the system that assesses what the risks to children are and takes action to protect them.

The report argues that problems here remain the greatest challenge to the children’s social care system as a whole.

In poorly performing authorities, weaknesses in leadership and management oversight – along with high caseloads – often meant children did not receive the right support at the right time.

Despite this, for the first time under new inspection arrangements, the London borough of Kensington and Chelsea – along with Westminster – recently received “outstanding” ratings.

A further 21 authorities were rated “good”.

Ofsted says that, in highly performing areas, inspectors saw strong leadership, both at a political level and throughout the organisation. In these areas, children did not wait for help and support – and social workers were given time to work with families.

The report also finds that an “inadequate” rating is not related to size, levels of deprivation, or funding – the quality of leadership in an area is the single most important factor in the standard of help, care and protection given to children.

Manageable workloads are also crucial – the variation between local authorities in terms of the numbers of children in need per social worker was found to be very wide, ranging from seven in some areas, to as high as 34 in others.

This year, inspectors found 14 local authorities where social workers’ caseloads were too high.

The picture for residential care has continued to improve, says the report –and inspections show that many children are benefiting from the help authorities provide, with four out of five children’s homes now rated “good” or higher.

At nearly 80%, the proportion of “good” and “outstanding” children’s homes is higher than that of secondary schools.

Meanwhile, inspections of independent fostering agencies found 85% of providers to be “good” or “outstanding” – children in care often make stronger progress educationally than vulnerable children who remain with their families, supported by social workers.

Ofsted’s Chief Inspector, Sir Michael Wilshaw said:

“The picture of performance we are publishing today shows there is clearly an ongoing need for improvement.

“While we have seen some green shoots of progress, too many areas are still failing the children they are charged with protecting.

“This report shows that the context of a local authority – including size, deprivation and funding – cannot be used as an excuse for poor performance. If some authorities can succeed in difficult circumstances, so can others.

“As I have said many times before, the driving factor that makes change happen at pace is good leadership – areas that are letting children down must look to their higher performing counterparts with urgency and follow their example.”


Duncan Lewis Children Lawyers

Duncan Lewis family lawyers can advise on a wide range of child care matters, including Section 38 enquiries and pre-proceedings meetings, children taken into local authority care, Court of Protection cases and SEND.

There are Duncan Lewis offices nationwide – and Duncan Lewis advises on family and child care matters under UK law and Islamic law.

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• Adoption and international adoption
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For expert legal advice on child care and family law, call Duncan Lewis children's solicitors on 0333 772 0409.