Ofsted, the Office for Standards in Education, Children’s Services and Skills, has stated that Nottingham City Council has continued to make strides in its children’s services improvement journey.
The national organisation, which inspects and regulates services that care for children and young people, has published the findings of its latest monitoring visit to the Council’s children’s services after they were judged inadequate in July 2022.
Jill Colbert, the Council’s Corporate Director for Children and Education Services, said: “The latest visit from Ofsted shows that we continue to improve in meeting the needs of those children who require our care. The Council’s focus on ensuring permanent managers are in place, with the right support around them, is starting to show impact for children and families as the improvement work has picked up pace. The inspectors noted that, despite the backdrop of financial pressures, they spoke to staff who felt proud to work for the Council.
“Social workers know their children well and ensure that children who are cared for have access to a range of support. Through the team of staff who support children’s educational outcomes, the Council makes sure that children take part in sport, hobbies, and after-school activities. We know that too many children are living in children’s homes, when we’d prefer them to live with foster carers, which is why we are working hard through our fostering service, D2N2 Foster with East Midlands, to recruit more foster carers.
“We also know that we still have work to do to bring all of our work up to the high standard that we know our families deserve, and that is why the Council continues to ensure it has the financial and human resources to continue improving.”
Councillor Cheryl Barnard, the Council’s Executive Member for Children, Young People, and Education, said: “I am pleased to see that the inspectors noted the progress we have made and have spoken so positively about the staff who work so hard every day to do a good job for our families. With the changes we have made to create dedicated management posts and the continued financial support from the Council, I am confident the service can start the New Year ready for the next phase of lasting improvement work.”
The letter outlining the findings from the latest visit can be read in full on the Ofsted website here.
