Nottinghamshire’s children services rated ‘Good’ with outstanding leadership

Nottinghamshire County Council
By Jamie Waller, Local Democracy Reporter

Nottinghamshire’s children services have been rated ‘good’ by watchdog Ofsted.

Inspectors praised the service’s “aspirational” leadership, its virtual school and the “trusting and nurturing relationships” with social workers.

They awarded a ‘good’ rating for three of the four areas – how the services manages children in care, children who need protection, and care leavers.

The “highly effective leadership team” was also given an ‘Outstanding’ rating in the fourth area.

The report says there has been clear improvements since the last inspection in 2019, when some aspects were rated ‘requires improvement’.

An inspection was conducted from May 20 to 24, led by His Majesty’s Inspector Nicki Shaw, and spoke with more than 150 children, staff, parents and partners.

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 county council services were commended for “helping children to receive support at the earliest opportunity”.

The report also found: “A relentless focus by leaders on improving the working conditions for social workers has created an environment where social work can flourish.”

Inspectors praised the county’s virtual school which tracks all children’s educational progress and ensures they’re on track.

“The virtual school is extremely ambitious, effective and aspirational for children in care,” inspectors wrote.

Unaccompanied asylum-seeker children were judged to receive “thoughtful and sensitive support” from a specialist team.

Ofsted has recommended there is more room to improve on help for carer leavers starting work, clearer target setting in personal education plans, and more consistent strategy meetings.

There is a shortage of foster placements in Nottinghamshire, although Ofsted says plans are in place to address this.

Colin Pettigrew, Executive Director of Children and Families for Nottinghamshire County Council, said: “This is a huge achievement.

“I am immensely proud of the many hard working, dedicated practitioners, foster carers, managers and partners who work really hard every day to improve the lives of vulnerable children in the county.

“We are also committed to improving further and have confidence that we have the right plans in place achieve that.”

Councillor Tracey Taylor, Cabinet Member for Children and Families for Nottinghamshire County Council, said:

“Receiving an Ofsted rating of ‘Good’ with ‘Outstanding’ leadership is a fantastic accomplishment. Supporting children and young people is our top priority and we aim for children and young people to be safe, cared for and have the best possible start in life.

“Children’s services work is often very complex and our social workers and support staff do an amazing job day in, day out. I am delighted that their efforts have been recognised by Ofsted inspectors.

“It is so important we particularly recognise the work of the social workers for doing such transformative work every day to improve the lives of children and young people in our care.

“While it is important to celebrate this outcome, we are ambitious to further improve wherever possible and there is no room for complacency. We will continue our efforts to ensure that every child in Nottinghamshire receives the best possible care.”