Mixed inspection for Herefordshire Council

Herefordshire Council and its partners have vowed to improve their services to young people after an inspection found that not all of the county’s youngsters were getting the help they need.

The inspection, headed by Ofsted and which included the Commission for Social Care Inspection and other agencies such as the police and health, found significant concerns and concluded that not all those youngsters at greatest risk get consistent help and that the Council’s systems need improvement.
 
The overall contribution of services to keeping children and young people safe was regarded as inadequate, although the inspectors found some good support to prevent family breakdown, abuse and neglect.

The authority has acted swiftly and has already sought the assistance of other authorities regarded as performing well in this area to share good practice to improve Herefordshire Council’s performance.

Cllr Don Rule, Cabinet Member (Children’s Services), said:  “The assessment, questioning the quality of the county’s approach to vulnerable children, is very disappointing.

“Both the Council and partners have worked hard to achieve a better result, but we accept that systems need improvement and plans are already in place to obtain additional help to make sure we’re heading in the right direction.

“But it’s not all bad news - on behalf of partners in the area, we were pleased to have good assessments in relation to other aspects of our services to young people.”

The inspectors praised the level and quality of services in a number of areas:
· Good equality early education and childcare provision
· Educational attainment is mainly above the national average
· Young people are generally well prepared for working life
· Good overall support for young people in the local authority’s care
· Good support for children dealing with major challenges and changes
· Good opportunities and support to enable young people to contribute to society and express their views
· The combination of work by all local services securing the health of children and young people is good
· Good partnership working

“This review has given us mixed results,” said Sue Fiennes, the Council’s Director of Children’s Services.

“There are lots of good things happening, but we must improve our services to youngsters and children at risk.

“We’re already in the process of seeking other Councils to work alongside us. These are top-performing authorities in this area and I’m confident we can learn a lot from them.

“This is now a priority for our Children’s Services.

“However, while we shall strive to improve this area of work, we shall also maintain the high quality of work which goes on in other areas to support the county’s children and young people.”