Kirklees Council children's services improving says Ofsted

The assessment comes two years after a critical report

Children's services in Kirklees are continuing to improve, according to inspectors from the education and children's watchdog Ofsted.

Two years ago Kirklees Council received a damning inspection report that led to government intervention.

But after a two-day visit in December 2018 the authority was found to have made "significant progress".

Inspectors said that improvement was "gathering pace" and there was increasing focus on quality.

The review by inspectors Rachel Holden and Matt Reed covered the assessment of risk, information sharing, children being seen alone, the quality of social work practice (including child protection plans), and management decision-making, oversight and supervision.

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The workforce was found to be stable and workers' morale was good, the Local Democracy Reporting Service says.

In their report Ms Holden and Mr Reed noted: "Improvement is gathering pace and there is now increasing focus on quality as well as ensuring that statutory compliance is met."

In her letter to Steve Walker, interim director of children's services at the council, Ms Holden wrote: "There has been a significant improvement since the last monitoring visit, which focused on the front door, in November 2017, in relation to the initial response to children who need help and protection.

"In the cases seen, children are safe, and immediate risks are appropriately assessed using a multi-agency approach.

"Strengthened processes and effective management oversight is ensuring robust decision-making."

In September 2017 a government report said that vulnerable children were being let down so badly in Kirklees that another council should be brought in to help.