Children's services in Herefordshire on target

Children and young people in Herefordshire receive satisfactory services across the board and these services are getting better. That's the message from the regulatory body Ofsted following an inspection team visit to the county in October.

The team spent a whole day talking to the council, Primary Care Trust and other partners to assess how Herefordshire is performing against national targets. The inspectors concluded that overall, good contributions are being made to improving the educational achievement and health of children and young people.

The report issued by Ofsted today says that children have a good start in Herefordshire. The county has a higher proportion of mothers breastfeeding than nationally and all schools are participating in the healthy schools programme. In particular, praise was given for the services provided for children and young people who are looked after, young offenders and those with learning difficulties or disabilities.

Areas for development include improving children and young people's dental health although the report noted that the introduction of a fluoridation process is actively being considered.

Though children are safe there is a need for further improvement related to timescales for dealing with assessments. The number of referrals to social care services has increased significantly, and the council has developed a recruitment strategy in order to ensure there are sufficient social workers to manage this within recommended timescales. Although good progress has been made over the last year, we are seeking to increase numbers further over the next 12 months in order to deal with this increased demand more effectively.

The Annual Performance Assessment relates to the period 2005-2006 Since then, some of the other areas identified for development have already been worked on: a family support strategy and a strategy to manage the 14-19 curriculum reform have already been drafted and are currently out for consultation.

Councillor Jenny Hyde, cabinet member for children and young people, said: "This is really good news for Herefordshire Council as it shows we are working well with our partners and beginning to see some important improvements which will help make our children and young people safe, happy, healthy and equipped to be able to make choices in life.

"However, we still have a long way to go. We particularly need to improve our performance management and make sure our systems are rigorous and robust. Integrating services such as some aspects of health and education makes sense, but it is difficult to achieve. Over the next year or so we are going to see some major changes taking place to the services we provide and the way we provide them."