Praise for protecting children
The first ‘unannounced’ inspection of the services provided to the most vulnerable children in Warwickshire has been passed with flying colours.
Warwickshire County Council was subject to a surprise inspection of contact, referral and assessment arrangements for children in need and children who may be in need of protection.
The inspection, carried out by Ofsted, is part of a new system this year where inspectors turn up at an authority with absolutely no prior warning.
The results have been published on the web by Ofsted this week.
Ofsted inspectors visited four of Warwickshire County Council’s duty teams in Nuneaton, Rugby, Warwick and Stratford.
The Inspectors found that children at risk of harm are protected and timely action taken.
Particular strengths were identified in the quality of the county’s work in protecting children, the work-force and the authority’s management of them.
Cllr Heather Timms, the council’s Portfolio Holder for Children, Young People and Families, said: “It is particularly pleasing to hear confirmation from Ofsted that we exceed statutory requirements. We give attention to communicating with children and young people to develop an understanding of their experiences and their views and then put those considerations at the heart of our planning.
“The unannounced inspection is extremely challenging for staff, and the good result reflects their superb performance. We continue to benefit from their dedication to the work that they do and their loyalty and commitment to Warwickshire.”
The purpose of the unannounced inspection is to check:
the quality and effectiveness of contact, referral and assessment arrangements
the impact of these arrangements on minimising the incidence of child abuse and neglect
the contribution of this service to safeguarding priorities
The unannounced inspection does not award grades but aspects of satisfactory practice, strengths and areas for development. Where necessary, areas for priority action are recorded and reported to the local authority. All areas of priority action will be of sufficient concern about children’s safety to be a potential limiting judgment for the annual children’s services rating.
There were no areas for priority action identified for Warwickshire.