North Tyneside Council has received further praise for its work to improve services for children and their families.
Following a focused visit to the children’s services department in May Ofsted has written to the authority outlining its findings, which highlight its work to protect children.
Inspectors looked at the department’s ‘front door’, the first stop for people raising concerns about the safety of children.
They praised the ‘strong corporate leadership and ambition to improve services for children and their families, reflected in a determined transformation programme of children’s services.’
Senior leaders were recognised for knowing the service well, which is reflected in the council’s self-assessment, and inspectors saw ‘sound social work practice’ in the multi-agency safeguarding hub (MASH) and social work assessment teams.
No children were found to be in situations of un-assessed or unmanaged risk, the letter adds.
This comes after the council was placed among the top ten of children’s services departments nationally in March 2017 following an Ofsted inspection.
The authority was given an overall judgement of ‘Good’ with ‘Outstanding’ features for its services to safeguard children.
This was followed by either ‘Good’ or ‘Outstanding’ ratings for all of the borough’s domestic and non-domestic childcare settings, while the Adult Learning Service has also been praised following a recent inspection.
In addition, the council has been named as the North East’s first Partners in Practice, alongside South Tyneside Council, along with eight others nationally.
It means the authority is part of an alliance aimed at working with other local authorities, whose children’s services are under-performing or at risk of failing, in order to drive up standards.
Meanwhile, health inspectors from the Care Quality Commission (CQC) have also recently highly praised the council’s children’s public health service.
Cllr Peter Earley, cabinet member for Children, Young People and Learning, said: “I am immensely proud of our hard work and commitment to improving services for children and families in the borough and making sure that they are safe and well looked after.
“It is fantastic to see that Ofsted inspectors have once again recognised our team and partners for their efforts to give children the best start in life and this is yet another brilliant achievement, particularly following on from our previous success, and I would like to offer my sincere thanks to everyone involved.”
In the letter following Ofsted’s latest visit a number of other positive findings were also highlighted, including:
- The establishment of a fully functioning multi-agency safeguarding hub (MASH) – a new fit-for-purpose electronic system, and a whole-system approach to the introduction of a recognised and evidence-based model of practice
- The MASH works effectively to safeguard children and partners are well engaged
- Relevant information was gathered and analysed well, meaning risk is at the forefront of decision-making
- Immediate risk of significant harm is identified effectively and responses are prompt and well-coordinated
- Decisions to step down to early help from the MASH are clear, appropriate and seamless
- Arrangements for a designated officer ensure that children are safeguarded where allegations are made against people who work with children
- Risks to the most vulnerable young people are well recognised and responded to
- Child sexual exploitation is identified effectively
- The risks associated with the complexities of domestic abuse are well understood
- Good, thorough assessments were seen, balancing and analysing risk and protective factors to underpin decision-making and future planning
- Staff are extremely positive about working in North Tyneside and morale is high
Elected Mayor Norma Redfearn CBE said: “I am delighted with the findings of this visit.
“Our children’s services department is among the best nationally and we have some of the best schools in the country so this is yet further testament to the quality of the services we provide to young people in the borough and their families.”
The inspector has also given the council some advice on areas for potential improvement and the team has already taken steps to address them.
Find out more about North Tyneside Council’s children’s services’ ‘Good’ with ‘Outstanding’ features Ofsted rating .
ENDS
Notes to editors:
About the multi-agency safeguarding hub (MASH):
The safeguarding hub was launched in October 2017 to coordinate support and protection services for children and vulnerable adults.
It is led by North Tyneside Council in partnership with Northumbria Police, health services and Harbour, a domestic abuse charity. Schools and probation services are also involved.
The hub, which is based at North Tyneside Council’s head office, brings together professionals in one team to deal with issues quickly and effectively.
The professionals involved in safeguarding cases were previously based in a number of different locations, affecting the speed of responding to a potential issue. The hub model aims to improve information sharing between the partners so that safeguarding concerns can be identified earlier and managed more efficiently.