Salford City Council’s Children’s Services has been rated overall as “Good” by OFSTED after a recent inspection.
OFSTED, the government body charged with inspecting services providing education visited the council for a five-day long inspection as part of the ILACS programme.
The report which has been published today, January 12, cites a range of positive outcomes for the council service.
Positive news this morning. Following the recent OFSTED inspection of our Children’s Services, the service has been rated overall as ‘Good’ and ‘Outstanding’ for its work with children and young people. pic.twitter.com/PZE26zwxFs
— Salford City Council (@SalfordCouncil) January 12, 2024
The service has been rated as ‘Outstanding’ in 50 per cent of the “judgement areas”. These areas include ‘The experiences and progress of care leavers’ and ‘The impact of leaders on social care practice with children and families’ in the latest Inspection of a Local Authority Children’s Services (ILACS) by OFSTED.
This latest rating highlights a clear improvement in the services delivered by the council, following the 2018 inspection where the service was rated “Good” in all four judgement areas.
Salford City Mayor Paul Dennett said: “Supporting children and young people in our city is one of our key priorities and always will be. We are committed to ensuring that children and young people are safe, supported and have the best possible start in life.
“The overall judgements from OFSTED across all categories and the recognition of our outstanding work to support care leavers, demonstrate excellent leadership and social work practice and the recognition of the city’s whole-system approach to delivering children services and working with our partners in the city is truly fantastic!”
Workers and managers in the care leaver service were recognised as “strong advocates for their young people” providing support that is “individually tailored” whilst social workers were described as “skilled and resourceful”.
OFSTED deemed the support provided leads to “trusting and enduring relationships that ensure that care leavers are guided through key transition points in their lives.” This is a process that is seen as being “greatly valued by care leavers.”
Inspectors reported the “persistence and determination shown across the service to remain in touch with care leavers in a meaningful way.”
Inspectors also praised the multi-agency partnership in Salford, labelling it “strong and effective”. They noted that this approach led to delivering “the best services and outcomes for children, which leads to effective joint working and appropriate challenge to further improve services.”
Despite the good news, Mayor Paul Dennett urged that there is “no room for complacency.”
He added: “There is no room for complacency as the pressures facing our residents, families, children and young people following 13 years of central government-imposed austerity, the COVID-19 pandemic, and the cost-of-living crisis are deeply concerning.
“We are living in unprecedented times, residents, families and indeed our children and young people are facing more and more pressures, combined with a period of grossly inadequate funding for councils to support them.”
For more on the rating click here.
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