A recent Ofsted report on Cambridgeshire County Council's Children's Services has found that it requires further improvement to be good.

Ofsted inspected the council from March 4 - March 15, and graded all areas as "Requires improvement to be good".

The areas that receive a grade are: the impact of leaders on social work practice with children and families, the experiences and progress of children who need help and protection, the experiences and progress of children in care, the experiences and progress of care leavers, and overall effectiveness.

The last full inspection of the County Council's Children's Services took place in January 2019, and the most recent report found that "no overall improvement" has been made.

However, it found evidence of "concrete and significant improvement", which was initiated by a change in leadership.

The decision to decouple from arrangements in Peterborough and focus solely on Cambridgeshire was also credited as part of the change. 

According to the report, a "refreshed improvement board" has brought about positive change in recent months, as well as financial investment into services.

Despite that, Ofsted found areas that still need improvements. These are:

  • The stability and capacity of the workforce, to support manageable workloads and consistency for children
  • Placement and accommodation sufficiency for children in care and care leavers
  • The quality, consistency and timeliness of assessments
  • Achieving permanence for all children in care and, in particular, strengthening the support for special guardianship orders
  • Transition planning for care leavers
  • The responsiveness of out-of-hours support
  • The consistency of support for 16 and 17-year-old children presenting as homeless

Councillor Bryony Goodliffe, Chair of Cambridgeshire County Council's Children and Young People's Committee, said: "Our focus has been on streamlining our processes and providing the right support and guidance for staff to enable them to support children and their families to make and sustain positive changes.

“However, we know there is still a lot to do.

"Over the coming months we will continue to work closely with our staff, partners and the improvement board to ensure that children in Cambridgeshire achieve their best possible outcomes."

Recommended Reading: St Neots Astrea Academy survey results with government