Newham Council’s Children Services continue to improve from their previous inadequate Ofsted score due to record investment in safeguarding young people, but there is still work to do, according to the latest review from Ofsted published today (30th June).
Ofsted recently made a two-day visit to Newham to review progress since a 2019 inspection rated services ‘inadequate’. Inspectors looked at a number of key areas linked to delivering assessments and care planning for children who are the subject of child protection and child in need plans.
Positive progress was noted across the service, but inspectors also identified areas needing further focus. Their observations noted the following:
- Driving improvements in child protection and children in need are still required
- Clear improvements in the response to children at risk of exploitation, with an effective integrated approach to sharing info and responding to risk.
- Improvements in response to Domestic Abuse, including direct work with fathers and children
- Decisions around thresholds for intervention were consistent
- More evidence of the impact of child protection chairs
- A greater level of management oversight and reflective supervision
- Staff, including social workers, demonstrated an appetite and passion for work
- The majority of staff approached by inspectors said their caseloads were manageable.
Councillor Sarah Ruiz, Cabinet Member for Education and Social Care said: “I welcome the findings of the Ofsted letter - it shows we are moving in the right direction and putting in place the key foundations for sustainable improvement. It is frustrating we have not been able to improve as quickly as we would have liked due to the pandemic, which Ofsted recognised. However, I am confident that the pace will pick up and the next Ofsted visit will find further improvement and we continue to strive to deliver a first class service and one that the young people of Newham deserve.”
Newham Mayor Rokhsana Fiaz said: “Nothing is more important than safeguarding our young people and that’s why we have invested over £36 million in Children Services since 2018, increasing budget by 33 per cent and increasing the number of youth workers from three to 43 since the Ofsted Inspection in March 2019.
“A big factor in our previous inadequate rating by Ofsted was prior to 2018 the council did not invest nearly enough in making our young people safe. Improvements identified in this recent visit is a credit to our team of social workers who are working tirelessly to ensure the most vulnerable of children receive protection and support they deserve. We must now accelerate our work in making the further improvements needed by Ofsted, which we fully accept.
“We are transforming Newham so it becomes a place where every child and young person enjoys the best possible opportunities in life through outstanding education and first-rate youth services, exceptional family support; and social care services that ensure all our children are safe. I’ll be ensuring that the council continues to make further improvements before the next Ofsted monitoring visit later this year.”