The Good judgement follows an Ofsted inspection (ILACS) held from 14 to 25 October.
The inspection said that services in Southend had undergone many significant changes since the last full ILACS inspection in July 2019 when the services were found to require improvement. Inspectors said that “leaders at every level in the council have contributed to a programme of change across the whole culture of service delivery, systemically improving services in a sustainable way for children and their families. Many vulnerable children and their families now benefit from this work.”
Ofsted grades services across four measures with the impact of leaders on social work practice with children and families, the experiences and progress of children who need help and protection and the experiences and progress of care leavers all found to be good.
Inspectors saw the evidence of improvement in all service areas, but there remain some legacy workforce challenges for children in care and foster carer workforce and some discrete areas of practice where improvement is still required.
Cllr Laurie Burton, cabinet member for children, young people and SEND, says: “This is a fantastic achievement, and I want to thank everyone involved who has made this possible, from all the staff and their teams, right through to the senior leadership, our foster carers, and councillors across the political spectrum who have all worked hard to instil positive change and improvements into the service.
“To return to Good after eight years of requiring improvement is a great result and should be rightly celebrated. I am pleased that inspectors noted so many positives in the report, demonstrating the passion, commitment and care of our staff and the positive impact that their work is having for children and young people.
“Whilst we have been judged Good, we are also aware of where improvements are needed within the corporate parenting area, with much of this linked to a high turnover of staff that is being addressed, with new permanent members of staff starting soon.”
The report can be read on the Ofsted website: Southend-on-Sea City Council – Open – Find an Inspection Report – Ofsted
Excerpts from the inspection report
Social workers speak with warmth and knowledge about the children and families they support. They visit children within required frequencies and take time to develop meaningful relationships that support engagement and offer children ample opportunity to share worries, leading to escalating interventions when necessary.
Disabled children similarly benefit from skilled social workers who use a range of communication methods to ensure that children’s wishes and feelings inform individualised and personalised plans.
Considerable improvement is evident in help and protection services. Children service’s offer of help, alongside the support from strong partnerships, enables children and their families who need help to be well supported to achieve the necessary improvements in their circumstances.
The training and development offer in Southend is comprehensive and equips staff effectively to deliver their work with children and families. Staff speak positively about the weekly Keep in Touch meetings with the Director of Children’s Social Work, Early Help and Youth Support and the leadership team. They welcome the opportunities to be involved in change agendas and be kept updated with new developments.