Cornwall Council’s children’s services have been rated ‘Good’ with ‘Outstanding’ features following an inspection by Ofsted.
The government’s education watchdog spent two weeks in July reviewing the wide range of services provided by the Together for Families (TFF) team and published its final report today (Thursday, August 22).
The report commends TFF’s strong leadership, stating:
“Senior leaders and politicians are relentless in their drive to continue to improve the lives of Cornwall’s children and families.”
It continues: “Staff’s care, commitment and child-focused approach shine through when they talk about their work. This positive working environment helps to foster a culture in which an enthusiasm and commitment to do the best for children is found at all levels in the organisation.”
Children’s services were given an overall effectiveness rating of ‘Good’, broken down into the following categories:
- Impact of leaders on social work practice with children and families – Good
- Experiences and progress of children who need help and protection – Good
- Experiences and progress of children in care – Good
- Experiences and progress of care leavers – Outstanding
Inspectors praised the range of ‘early help’ services and highlighted the work of our multidisciplinary team in supporting children and families who are at risk and children who have the most complex needs.
Commending the support offered to our care leavers, the report states:
“Care leavers receive an impressive level of support in Cornwall and the local authority’s partnership with a specialist commissioned service to young people is exemplary. Care leavers are helped by skilled and compassionate personal advisers who know young people very well.”
Cllr Barbara Ellenbroek, cabinet member for children and families at Cornwall Council, said:
“It is fantastic news that our children’s services have been given the recognition they deserve by Ofsted. This hugely positive inspection report is all down to the hard work and dedication of every member of TFF staff and I would like to thank every one of them for their ongoing passion and commitment.
“It is one of the council’s key priorities to make Cornwall a brilliant place to be a child and grow up and I am incredibly proud of the services we provide to make this a reality for our young people.”
Kate Evan-Hughes, strategic director for Together for Families, said:
“I am delighted that the inspectors have recognised so many of the areas of practice which we are most proud of, in particular the passion, care, commitment and child-focused approach of managers and staff at every level.
“It is also wonderful that our work with care leavers has been rightly recognised as exemplary with them having some of the best experiences and outcomes in the country.”
Nationally, pressure has mounted on local authority children’s services in recent years as families struggle with the after-effects of the pandemic and the cost-of-living crisis.
In Cornwall this has been exacerbated by high levels of deprivation, with many more families struggling to survive and a significant increase in abuse and neglect.
Data shows that since the council’s last ILACS (Inspection of Local Authority Children’s Services) by Ofsted in 2019:
- Early Help assessments are up 87% (more than 1,250 additional every 6 months)
- Child welfare referrals are up 47% (more than 1,200 additional referrals every 6 months)
- Child in Need assessments are up 34% (more than 1,100 additional assessments every 6 months)
- Child Protection enquiries are up 104% (over 600 extra every 6 months)
- There are an extra 146 children in care - up 31% - which now includes separated children seeking asylum
Ben Davies, service director for children and family services, said:
“We have excelled in many of the areas that local authorities are finding most challenging to deliver around the country, including early help, child exploitation, separated children seeking asylum, and supporting young people at risk of homelessness.
“This achievement is particularly impressive given the very significant increases in demand that we have had to deal with since our last inspection.”
Areas for improvement noted in the inspection report include: ‘Timeliness of child protection strategy meetings’; ‘quality of Public Law Outline letters’; and ‘day-to-day monitoring of arrangements for children living in unregistered children’s homes’.
Ben said: “These are areas we had identified as priorities before the inspection, and action plans were already in place to positively address them. We have already made substantial progress in these areas between the ILACS inspection and the publication of the report.”
Kate Evan-Hughes added: “We remain focused on improving the quality and effectiveness of our service to make an even bigger difference to children’s lives, and with our amazingly committed and skilled practitioners and managers, we have everything that we need in place to achieve that.
“I am immensely proud to be a part of this team and I’m excited about what we can achieve next.”
You can read the full inspection report here: Inspection of Cornwall local authority children's services.
Press release issued on August 22, 2024.