Ofsted’s recent visit to Warwickshire County Council’s Children’s Services highlighted highly effective practice.
‘It is evident that the local authority and partner agencies are committed to improving the lives of young people.’ Ofsted Focused visit to Warwickshire County Council Children’s Services
Ofsted’s recent visit to Warwickshire County Council’s Children’s Services highlighted highly effective practice.
A ‘focused visit’ took place in March 2023 where inspectors reviewed the local authority’s arrangements for care experienced young people.
Ofsted focused visits concentrate on a theme and take place between full inspections which occur every three years. They offer inspectors the chance to look at specific areas of practice and identify what is working well, as well as areas of concern.
During the visit inspectors looked at a range of evidence, including care-experienced young people’s records and undertook case discussions with staff at all levels and a range of young people. They also looked at local authority performance management and quality assurance information.
Ofsted reported that since the last inspection in November 2021, when children’s services were judged to be good overall, there has continued to be an effective focus on improving services for care-experienced young people by senior leaders, elected members, and partner agencies.
Inspectors noted that services had strengthened in spite of a challenging backdrop of financial pressures and rising need and observed that ‘almost all care-experienced young people receive support and services that meet their needs effectively’. They noted how additional funding had been used to expand the work force effectively to increase the capacity and quality of responses across the service.
The inspection team found well-supported staff with manageable caseloads, good training opportunities and commitment to young people and a culture of never giving up on them. They reported that care experienced young people have lots of opportunities to help them fulfil their potential and benefit from a co-produced support offer which is flexible to their different and developing needs as they leave care.
Feedback from Ofsted about how the service could get even better advised improving the timeliness with which personal advisors are allocated and work to further improve the effectiveness of management oversight of work with young people in custody or living in unsuitable accommodation.
Warwickshire County Councillor, Jeff Morgan, Portfolio Holder for Children’s Services said: “Warwickshire’s report from Ofsted is incredibly positive and it recognises the steps we have taken to develop good relationship-based practice that puts the needs of children and families at the heart of all we do.
“This report echoes findings from our last full inspection where the county was judged to be ‘good’ and it is reassuring to see our continued hard work and commitment to high standards and good outcomes for young people to be recognised once again.
“I am incredibly proud of Children’s Services, in particular the work it does to support care-experienced young people who have faced many challenges and disruption in their short lives. I was so pleased to see the inspection report cite our ‘never give up’ attitude as I know how passionate our staff members are about doing their best for young people so they, in turn, can be the best they can be – whatever it takes.
“Warwickshire is a great place to work with good opportunities for staff development. We take a truly innovative approach where everyone is heard and respected and we are totally focused on achieving the right outcomes for those we work with.
“I am confident that our approach to work with children, young people and families - rather than for them - along with our successful Child Friendly Warwickshire initiative will continue to take us from strength to strength.”
The full report is available on the Ofsted website.
For more information about children and family services go to www.warwickshire.gov.uk/childrenandfamilies.