'Good' rating for council's children's services

Inspectors praised the work of those in children's services, which is now judged to be good overall

A children's services department has received good and outstanding Ofsted ratings following a council's "relentless ambition" to improve, inspectors have said.

Gloucestershire County Council has historically had poor Ofsted ratings for the service, with the most recent one in 2022 stating it required improvement.

But a report published earlier said "the pace of improvement has accelerated" under the current director of children's services, adding "services are now judged to be good overall".

Areas where improvement was still needed included the response to homelessness for 16 and 17 year olds and support for care leavers who are not employed or in education.

The report found Gloucestershire's children's services had outstanding ratings in two categories, children's experience in care and the impact of leaders on social work practice.

It said: "Since the last inspection in 2022, when services were judged to require improvement, credible leaders, with strong corporate and political support, have been relentless in their ambition to improve children's lives."

Cabinet member for children's safeguarding and care, Ben Evans, said he was pleased for the children, young people and families the council supported, as well as for staff who had "worked so hard" to improve services.

Three other areas received good ratings, which included the experiences of children and care leavers who need help and protection, as well as the overall effectiveness of the service.

In response to the areas which still need addressing, the council said it had started working with those responsible for housing to improve homelessness for young people. It said it was also working with social enterprises to help find young people employment.

The Liberal Democrats took over the administration in May but Mr Evans praised the Conservatives for getting the service into shape.

"We've got a brilliant director of children's services and the previous Conservative administration - who I should be throwing pelters at - did a really good job," he added.

'Doubling efforts'

The report said foster carers were "well supported and appreciated by the service".

It comes after the BBC spoke to former foster families who had felt they had been let down by the service.

Mr Evans admitted the service was not perfect and he was troubled to read the concerns of foster carers. He added he had been in touch with some as a result.

The county council said it was coming up with innovative solutions to reduce the number of children in care.

Mr Evans said the local authority was "doubling efforts to recruit more foster carers" whilst looking at creating family hubs to prevent issues escalating and children ending up in care in the first place.