Peterborough urged to change approach to children in care

A campaigner has urged Peterborough City Council to take a different approach to youngsters in care

A campaigner has urged a council to take a different approach to youngsters in care after its children's services department was downgraded to "inadequate" by regulator Ofsted.

Terry Galloway says Peterborough City Council should treat children in care as having a "characteristic" protected under equality legislation.

Mr Galloway said dozens of other local authorities had adopted the policy.

He said such an approach would be better for children and the council.

In 2018, Ofsted Since rated all Peterborough's services for children as "good".

However, a new inspection report says there has been a "deterioration in the quality of practice" and in the "experience and progress of children and young people".

The report says one factor is a "lack of sufficient leadership focus".

Peterborough's director of children's services, John Gregg, said he was sorry services were 'not currently at the standard they should be'

Peterborough's director of children's services, John Gregg, said he was sorry the services were "not currently at the standard they should be".

Mr Galloway, who was in care as a child and campaigns for "systematic change" via his Care Leaver Local Offer website, said classing children in care as having a protected characteristic would bring more council departments into play.

He said such a move would make it easier to build new accommodation.

"It should be everybody's job to think about children in care," said Mr Galloway.

"Classing children in care as having a protected characteristic would put them on everyone's radar.

"Too often children in care are not thought about outside children's services.

"That is not because people don't care; it is because it is not their job."

The Local Government Association says equality legislation aims to deter discrimination.

Its website says characteristics protected under legislation include age, disability, race, religion and sexual orientation.

Ofsted rated Peterborough's children's services in four categories:

• The impact of leaders on social work practice with children and families

• The experiences and progress of children who need help and protection

• The experiences and progress of children in care

• The experiences and progress of care leavers

The report rated the department as "requires improvement to be good" in the first three categories.

But Ofsted rated the children's services department as "inadequate" in the "experiences and progress of care leavers" category.

The regulator also rated the department's "overall effectiveness" as "inadequate".