Cornwall children's services rated good - Ofsted

Staff were praised by Ofsted for their commitment to improving the lives of Cornwall’s children and families

Ofsted has rated Cornwall Council’s children’s services as good with outstanding features.

The government’s education watchdog spent two weeks in July reviewing the wide range of services.

Its report said senior leaders and politicians were "relentless in their drive" to continue to improve the lives of Cornwall’s children and families.

Service director for children and family services, Ben Davies, said: "This achievement is particularly impressive given the very significant increases in demand that we have had to deal with since our last inspection.”

The report said the care, commitment and child-focused approach of staff "shined through when they talk about their work".

"This positive working environment helps to foster a culture in which an enthusiasm and commitment to do the best for children is found at all levels in the organisation," it said.

Children’s services were given an overall effectiveness rating of good, with the experiences and progress of care leavers rated as outstanding.

'Passion and commitment'

Areas for improvement noted in the inspection included the timeliness of child protection strategy meetings, quality of public law outline letters and day-to-day monitoring of arrangements for children living in unregistered children’s homes.

Mr Davies said these were areas which had been identified as priorities before the inspection, and action plans were already in place to address them.

Cabinet member for children and families, councillor Barbara Ellenbroek said: "This hugely positive inspection report is all down to the hard work and dedication of every member of Together For Families staff and I would like to thank every one of them for their ongoing passion and commitment."

Kate Evan-Hughes, strategic director for Together for Families, said she was delighted the inspectors "recognised so many of the areas of practice which we are most proud of".