27/11/2007 - Children's Services show 'evidence of improvement in all outcomes' - Ofsted

Services for children and young people provided by Cumbria County Council are improving, and have the capacity to continue to improve, according to an independent Ofsted assessment published this afternoon (Monday 26 November).

The council's Children's Services have been given a Grade 3 rating - the highest grade is 4 - for all areas the Ofsted inspectors looked at with the exception of the target of improving children's health, which received a Grade 2.

The inspection is Children's Services Annual Performance Assessment (APA), which is conducted every year, in every council. It focuses on the contribution that specific council services have made in the previous 12 months towards improving 'outcomes' for children and young people and the council's capacity to improve these services.

When it reports the judgements about the impact of the council's work, the APA comments on, and provides separate grades for, services in the five areas outlined in the government's 'Every Child Matters' initiative.

The scores given to Cumbria County Council's Children's Services are based on how much has been achieved from the action plans drawn up after the last review of services in December 2006 - the Joint Area Review, or JAR - and the Children and Young People's Plan for the county.

Using these criteria, Children's Services has been awarded: 

Staying Safe - Grade 3

Enjoying and achieving - Grade 3

Making a positive contribution to the community - Grade 3 Achieving economic wellbeing - Grade 3 Being Healthy - Grade 2

This gives Children's Services an overall Grade 3.

The report from Ofsted, published today, says:

"There is evidence of improvement in all outcomes since the joint area review...........the council has a good understanding of local and countywide needs and shows determination to improve services further. A key priority in this large and geographically diverse county is to develop locality-based capacity." This is where services are provided in local areas, rather than just from a central point.

The assessment also notes that:

"There have been significant recent improvements in outcomes in safeguarding [children] and the range of preventative services has increased. Well-targeted actions have had a good degree of success in raising educational standards where there has been underachievement", and "The involvement of children and young people in the development of planning is much greater than at the time of the joint area review."

Work still needs to be done to reach targets in some areas, including children and young people being healthy. Here the assessment states: 

"Supporting young people in making positive choices to live healthy lifestyles and avoid risk-taking behaviours remains a challenge for the authority", but also acknowledges that "[the council] has set reducing smoking, drinking, substance misuse and the rate of teenage pregnancies as priorities."

As for the potential for even more improvement in the future, the assessment says that "What has been achieved so far and the good quality of leadership and management show the council has good capacity to improve further."

The county council's director of Children's Services, Moira Swann, is delighted with the latest assessment. She said:

"Although many of our services were rated as adequate in the JAR in December, we were absolutely determined to improve our services even more, and as quickly as possible.

"It's really gratifying for all of us in Children's Services so it is really gratifying to get this independent assessment from Ofsted today, which acknowledges all that hard work and what we have achieved in the last twelve months."

"The other good news from the assessment is that, with the present set-up, we have the ability and capacity to improve even further and we will be working equally hard in the future to get the highest grade next time around - which will demonstrate that we really are succeeding in providing the very best service for the children and young people of Cumbria."

County councillor Jim Buchanan is the council's Cabinet member for Children's Wellbeing. He said:

"This is great news - not only are our services improving but the Ofsted assessment says that we will continue to do so.

"It's good to know we are on the right track; nothing is more important than providing the best possible start in life to our young people and I would like to congratulate everyone in Children's Services for their hard work and commitment to achieving this aim." 

End

Further information from Alison Lister, media team on (01228) 606335

Follow this link to view a copy of the full assessment