Shropshire children's social care services rated as 'good' by national inspectors

The authority's service received an overall 'good' rating, following the inspection by Ofsted last month.

It is the second time in a row the service has been marked as good, and council leader Lezley Picton said it was an endorsement of the efforts of staff across children's care.

It comes against the background of some of the most challenging circumstances in the service's history, as staff worked to deal with the impact of the pandemic, and successive lockdowns.

The authority was deemed good in two major categories out of three –'the impact of leaders on social work practice with children and families', and 'the experiences and progress of children in care and care leavers'.

A third category of 'the experiences and progress of children who need help and protection' was deemed to require improvement to be rated as 'good'.

Ofsted's report highlights that staff provided a "high level" of support throughout the pandemic,with ongoing face-to-face visits, and being available to step in where other organisations were not.

The inspectors also praised the leadership for the service.

The report stated: "Children in Shropshire are benefitting from the high aspirations of senior leaders for their services to continue to improve children’s lives. Since the last inspection, leaders have improved performance and concentrated on getting their preferred practice model and effective processes in place to support managers and social workers to improve experiences for children."

It added: "During the Covid-19 pandemic, children’s services have continued to provide a high level of support for all children, including ongoing face-to-face visits to promote their safety and well-being. Where partners were otherwise deployed, the local authority stepped up to ensure that children’s needs and risks were responded to. Care leavers in particular have benefited greatly from the enhanced support of their personal adviser."

Councillor Picton said that despite the difficult financial background the council had increased spending on the service – and was focused on preventing problems for children and families, rather than solving them after they appear.

She said: "In difficult times we have actually increased the budget for children's services because we know how important it is that the children across Shropshire get the best outcomes.

"What is really satisfying is we have changed the structure and there is a different focus from the leadership and Ofsted have come in and said 'yes, you are good' despite the two years we have had with Covid."

Sonya Miller, assistant director for children's social care and safeguarding, said plans were already in place to address the areas highlighted where the service can improve.

She added that they were particularly proud of the efforts of staff during the Covid crisis.

She said: "We think this is an incredible achievement, to maintain the standard that we have after a two-year pandemic."

The report states that visits to children are child-focused and purposeful, and that children benefit from effective multi-agency working to identify those who are vulnerable to, or who are, being exploited.

It also concluded children live with foster carers who are well trained and are skilled in meeting their individual needs.

Inspectors said that children are benefitting from permanence through adoption, and there has been an increase in the number of fosters to adopt approvals and older children and sibling groups being matched with adopters – it added that adopters are positive about the support provided throughout the adoption process.

The report said that children leaving care in Shropshire receive excellent help and guidance from enthusiastic and passionate personal advisers, while the local offer for care leavers is comprehensive and effective and, despite the pandemic, there has been substantial improvement in 17-18-year-olds in employment, education or training and an improving picture for 19–21-year-olds.

Kirstie Hurst-Knight, Shropshire Council’s Cabinet member for children and education said: “I’m extremely proud of this Good rating from Ofsted, which is a great achievement given the pressures faced over the last two years.

“The council’s teams have worked tirelessly throughout the pandemic, and have really stepped up to ensure that even in these most challenging times, we remained fully focused on and supporting those who need it most: our most vulnerable children and families.

“I pay tribute to everyone in our children’s services, and our partners, who work with such compassion and commitment every day to improve the lives of children in Shropshire.

“We know that our work doesn’t stop and there are still things we can improve on, and we welcome the recommendations Ofsted have made to further ensure we are making Shropshire as safe as possible for children, where they can develop to have the best life for young people, with access to good health, education and other services.”