Ofsted highlights mixed results in efforts to improve children’s services

Sefton children’s services are making steady progress in addressing vulnerabilities but significant challenges remain, particularly in services for disabled children and those at risk of exploitation, according to the latest Ofsted monitoring report.

The report, summarising findings from a visit on 15-16 November 2023, marks the fourth inspection since Sefton was rated inadequate in February 2022.

While improvements to the service are detailed in the report, significant criticisms are also disclosed.

Inspectors said progress for homeless 16- or 17-year-olds has been slow, despite recent protocol developments. Children in private fostering arrangements continue to receive weak services, with inspectors noting a lack of timely assessments.

Services for disabled children and those missing from home or care are showing signs of improvement. A dedicated team for missing children is aiding better multi-agency coordination. However, consistency in protection response for disabled children remains a concern.

The report acknowledges improvements in staffing within the services. Senior leaders in children’s services previously indicated to OTS News that staffing shortages were impeding improvement efforts. Ofsted’s findings suggest that a positive work environment is encouraging agency workers to seek permanent positions within the service.

Cllr Mhairi Doyle, Cabinet Member for Children’s Social Care, said: “I am pleased to see Ofsted begin to note the work that we have done in particularly for children with specific vulnerabilities. It is our job as corporate parents to protect our children and give them space and opportunity to thrive; this latest Ofsted visit has given us encouragement that we are moving in the right direction and identify some areas where we can do this better.

“Ultimately, we have a responsibility to our children in just the same way as any parent, to support them in whatever way we can. I want children in Sefton to grow up knowing that we care about them and believe in them and for Sefton to be a place where their voices are listened to and acted on.”

Responding to the letter from Ofsted, Dr Risthardh Hare, Director of Education and Children’s Services, said: “Monitoring visits are a regular part of our improvement journey and they support us to identify areas of weakness and mark signs of progress.

“We were really pleased to see Ofsted recognise the clear signs of improvement in some areas of our work particularly in our development of specialist services and our services for children with complex needs, our better understanding of data and a more focused improvement plan, these changes largely due to the hard work and efforts of our dedicated workforce.

“We know that we still have much more work to do alongside our partners to make Sefton Children’s Services better but we are encouraged that the changes we have been making over the last 18 months are making a difference and are confident that we are moving in the right direction to build a service that the children and young people of Sefton deserve.”