Ofsted report claims Cambridgeshire children's services still 'require improvement'

An Ofsted inspection into children’s services at Cambridgeshire County Council has led to a ‘requires improvement’ rating, finding no overall improvement since the same rating was given in 2019. However, this year’s inspection pointed to some “positive change” brought about by a new chief executive and director.

The report was published on Thursday (May 16), after two inspections in March. It criticised inconsistency in out-of-hours services and assessment quality, which it said impacted some children’s experiences.

Ofsted also said: “The response to children aged 16 or 17 who present as homeless is inconsistent. Despite clear protocols, children’s needs are not always fully understood.

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“Some children in care do not have an up-to-date assessment of their needs. This means that some children experience delay in securing permanence at the earliest opportunity.

“Although some children in care are well supported with their transition to leaving care, some do not have the benefit of developing a relationship with their personal adviser early enough.”

According to the report, these personal advisors develop strong relationships with care leavers, and visit them regularly. However, many of their caseloads are too high, impacting their ability to fully cater to the needs of those they support.

The areas inspected, each of which were described as requiring improvement, were: 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.

Shared leadership and service arrangements between Cambridgeshire and Peterborough have been split since 2019, which inspectors believe has helped to bring about improvements.

Response to child exploitation was described as more robust than in 2019. The report also praised social workers’ building of strong relationships with children; services for disabled children that show understanding of their needs; and the fact that many children in foster care “flourish”.

Cllr Bryony Goodliffe, chair of Cambridgeshire County Council’s children and young people’s committee, said: “Our focus has been on streamlining our processes and providing the right support for staff to enable them to support children and their families.

“However, we know there is still a lot to do. Over the coming months, we will continue to work closely with our staff, partners and the improvement board to ensure that children in Cambridgeshire achieve their best possible outcomes.

“We are on a journey of improvement and there has been a relentless focus on reducing staff turnover. Our culture has shifted to support staff to improve practice. We are delivering this through the new children’s academy.”

The academy mentioned by Cllr Goodliffe aims to develop and recruit more social workers in the county. It was supported by £400,000 funding from the Department for Education.

Cllr Michael Atkins, vice chair of the children and young people’s committee, added: "We take the findings of the Ofsted inspection very seriously, and we are fully committed to making the necessary improvements to ensure that every child and young person receives the high-quality care they deserve.

“We have separated from Peterborough to drive improvements for Cambridgeshire. Improvements have made our response to child exploitation more robust and child in need planning is now timelier.

“There is still much that we need to achieve so that we can truly offer our most vulnerable better outcomes now and in the future.”

The full Ofsted report can be found here.