Tougher Ofsted inspection finds Hillingdon ‘requires improvement’
The London Borough of Hillingdon has become the first council to be told that its child protection and care services must be improved under Ofsted’s tougher new inspection framework.
An inspection report published today found that although there were no “widespread or serious failures” that leave children at risk of harm, services were not of a “good” standard.
Two other inspection reports published today – for Derbyshire and Hartlepool – gave each authority an overall judgment of “good”.
The three reports are the first to be published under Ofsted’s new single inspection framework, which came into effect in November.
The new inspections assess the quality of services for all vulnerable children, with an overall department judgment based on performance in three key areas – services for children who need protection; looked-after children (including adopted children and care leavers); and leadership, management and governance.
A rating is also provided for the effectiveness of the local safeguarding children board.
Controversially, in the new framework, the “adequate” grade has been replaced with a grade of “requires improvement”.
Hillingdon’s inspection report listed 10 reasons for why it could not be rated as “good”.
These included:
- Social workers and managers sometimes ceasing provision of help too soon
- Important information not always being included in child assessments
- Written care plans not always being strong enough
- The views of looked after children are not always being recorded well
However the report did highlight a number of strengths, including the adoption service, therapeutic support for children in care, and efforts to ensure placement stability for children in care.
Sector leaders have previously raised fears that the new “requires improvement” rating will sap morale and result in more councils appearing to be underperforming on child protection.
The first set single inspection reports are to be reviewed by Professor Eileen Munro of the London School of Economics.
The single inspection framework is due to be replaced by multi-agency inspections from April 2015.
Source: CYPNow
