Children's services improving after failings found

Shropshire Council's services ensured that children in care were "thriving", the report said

Children's services in Shropshire have maintained a "strong focus" on improving after "widespread" failings were found earlier this year, an Ofsted report has said.

"Significant investment" in Shropshire Council's emotional health services had led to reduced waiting times for children in care who were well supported by carers, it added.

The improvements come after a report published in January found children in need of protection were left at risk of "significant harm" due to weaknesses in child protection practice.

The outcome on 30 August reflected the "dedication and commitment of everyone involved in supporting our children", the council said.

Inspector John Roughton said more children were being returned closer to home through increased fostering and new services had been developed to support carers.

Unaccompanied asylum-seeking children were found to be well supported by "committed social workers who are sensitive to their cultural needs and experience".

'We are not complacent'

Mr Roughton said that a strengthened senior leadership team had provided "quality assurance to ensure that children in care were thriving".

However, he said that the effectiveness of management needed improving along with the engagement of children in developing parenting plans.

"Audits are not consistently completed collaboratively with social workers and feedback from children and families is not routinely obtained," Mr Roughton said.

Tanya Miles, executive director of people at Shropshire Council, said the authority was "very proud" of its carers and staff, but added it would continue to address the areas of improvement.

"We are not complacent, and we know that there is more work to do to ensure that all children looked after have the best possible outcomes," the authority said.

This news was gathered by the Local Democracy Reporting Service which covers councils and other public service organisations.