By Jamie Waller, Local Democracy Reporter
Nottinghamshire children service’s best Ofsted report for 20 years helps put its ‘dark history’ behind it, the councillor responsible says.
Hundreds of youngsters were sexually or physically abused while in the council’s children’s homes and foster care between the 1960s and 1990s.
The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse found at least 350 people reported being abused in the county, and there were likely many more.
An Ofsted report published on Friday (July 12) has graded Nottinghamshire County Council’s children’s services as good, with outstanding leadership.
This is the highest rating for at least two decades, although Ofsted’s requirements continually evolve.
Councillor Tracey Taylor (Con), the cabinet member for Children and Families, expressed hope that the result could move services away from “the horrific shadow of that investigation”.
“Even though they were 30 to 40 years ago, the fact those things happened at all… They were just the most awful set of circumstances,” she said.
“We’ve come quite a way on the journey to rebuilding trust. We owned and acknowledged and said sorry about what happened.
“I hope this report cements that trust. It isn’t the grade that matter so much as the quality of care.
“Thankfully, this generation of children won’t have any sense of that dark past. They shouldn’t be afraid of their time in care.”
A total of 957 children are looked after in Nottinghamshire county as of March, and there are another 1,121 care leavers under 25.
The report says there has been clear improvements since the last inspection in 2019, and praised the support that was given to children at the earliest opportunity.
Cllr Taylor said the proudest part for her was how inspectors wrote to children to let them know social workers cared and looked after them well.
“So often we only hear the horror stories – when there’s been a tragic death or social worker failings – and we don’t hear about their success day in, day out,” she said.
“A result like this motivates social workers, makes improvement easier, and also helps with recruitment and retention.”
Ofsted has recommended there is room to improve on help for carer leavers starting work, clearer target setting in personal education plans, and more consistent strategy meetings.
Cllr Taylor said: “These are areas we already knew we needed to improve and have started that journey. There is no complacency.
“We also know there are challenging financial circumstances, but children’s services are a statutory duty we have to provide for however many children need it.
“The work we have been doing is about early help and intervention, which is less expensive in the long-run. It’s about getting the balance right.
“This can prevent children coming into care in the first place and let them stay with their families.
“We will never allow the budget to not help children who need it.”
Find the full report on Ofsted’s website.
