Government lifts Children’s Services improvement notice

The government has lifted its notice to improve for Peterborough City Council’s Children’s Services. The news comes just three months after Ofsted inspectors announced the department was no longer rated inadequate.

Edward Timpson MP, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Children and Families, confirmed in a letter to the Leader of the Council, Marco Cereste, that the Improvement Notice issued in February 2012 after the service was rated inadequate by Ofsted had been lifted with immediate effect.

The letter reads: “It is clear from the recent Ofsted inspection and the report from Jane Held, chair of Peterborough’s Improvement Board, that the council has made good progress in addressing the issues raised in Ofsted’s re-inspection of safeguarding services in August 2011.

“This represents a significant improvement in child protection social work practice and I want to acknowledge the hard work of council staff and those in partner organisations in bringing this about and the constructive way your officers have engaged with officials.”

The letter makes it clear that the areas identified for improvement by Ofsted, following its visit in January 2013, need to be addressed to build a good service.

The city council will be required to provide the Department for Education with a progress report in six months.

The letter to the Leader continued: “I am pleased to note Ofsted’s positive comments about the role played by members under your overall leadership and that of the lead member Sheila Scott in supporting and driving improvement.

“This will need to continue to ensure that the residual issues can be addressed and even more progress can be made.”

Following an eight-day unannounced Ofsted inspection, it was revealed in March that the city council’s social care services had made the jump from inadequate to adequate.

Inspectors concluded that ‘at the time of the inspection, no children were found to be inadequately protected or at risk of significant harm’. In addition, there weren’t any unallocated child protection or children in need cases.

Inspectors found that lessons from previous Ofsted inspections had been taken seriously by the council resulting in a determined drive to address the identified deficits through rapid improvement.

In addition, the number of social workers has increased from 56 to 81 and caseloads have been reduced.

Leadership and governance at senior level was found to be strong with evidence of a real drive and energy to address the past failings.

The involvement of elected members had also become strong through increased confidence, oversight and challenge.

Sue Westcott, Executive Director of Children’s Services, said: “This is fantastic news for everyone who has worked so hard to make the improvements to ensure that our children and young people get the care, support and opportunities they deserve.

“Following the adequate Ofsted rating in March, this latest news reaffirms the excellent work undertaken by the whole council including the Leader Marco Cereste, Cabinet Member Councillor Sheila Scott, the Chief Executive and our staff, to ensure services are in place to meet the needs of some of our most vulnerable families.

“However, as I have maintained from the start, there is no room for complacency and we will not let our determination to build on the improvements already made waver.”

Councillor Sheila Scott, Cabinet Member for Children’s Services, said: “The removal of our Notice to Improve sends a clear signal to people that children’s social care is continuing to move forward in the right direction.

“Above all, I want to thank staff in children’s social care for their unrelenting hard work and focus to ensure as far as possible that our most vulnerable children and families are protected.

“I am confident that under the strong and focussed leadership of Sue Westcott the improvements we have seen in the past 18 months will carry on and I will continue to work closely alongside the department to ensure this happens.”