Northamptonshire: Children's services improving in 'inadequate' county

Children's services at the now defunct Northamptonshire County Council were rated inadequate in July 2019

A "failing" children's service has continued to improve since it was rated inadequate, according to Ofsted.

Northamptonshire County Council's children's services were rated inadequate by Ofsted in July 2019.

The authority has since been scrapped with two new unitary authorities taking control of separate children's departments.

In a letter to both councils, Oftsed said senior leaders were "committed to improving the lives of children".

As well as the new unitary system, an independent trust took control of children's services across the county in November 2020.

Children's services in Northamptonshire were rated 'inadequate' in July 2019

Children's services in Northamptonshire have a troubled recent history, including having a government commissioner appointed to oversee them in 2018.

In 2019 two serious case reviews found the county council had failed to protect murdered children Dylan Tiffin-Brown and Evelyn-Rose Muggleton.

This week, two further safeguarding reviews found there had been errors in the cases of two young babies who died in the county. Those cases pre-date the creation of the two new councils.

In December 2020, Ofsted said the service had started "to improve, albeit from a very low base".

The latest Ofsted monitoring inspection shows the service continues to improve across the county.

In letters to both West Northamptonshire Council and North Northamptonshire councils, inspectors said senior leaders "know their services well and are committed to improving the lives of children and young people.

"Improvement plans are realistic and continue to be implemented with success despite the ongoing challenges of the pandemic."

Inspectors did recognise there are still improvements to be made and the quality of the service was still too variable.

Children's services in Northamptonshire: A timeline

Evelyn-Rose Muggleton and Dylan Tiffin-Brown were victims of separate murders while being monitored by Northamptonshire children's services

• Government commissioner Malcolm Newsam is appointed to oversee the "overwhelmed" service in 2018

• Two serious case reviews found the council had failed to protect murdered children Dylan Tiffin-Brown and Evelyn-Rose Muggleton

• The service was rated inadequate in July 2019

• Commissioner Mr Newsam resigned in September 2019 to be replaced by Andrew Christie

• In January 2020, a government report condemned the department as one of the worst in the country, despite being the most expensive

• An independent trust took control in November 2020, with Ofsted saying the department was improving a month later

• This month, safeguarding reports into the deaths of two babies found there are "learnings" for authorities in the county to make

West Northamptonshire Council's cabinet member for children, Fiona Baker, said the authority still needed "to improve consistency of practice and the recruitment and retention of staff".

She said the inspectors recognised the council was "relentlessly pursuing a recruitment campaign".

North Northamptonshire Council's executive member for children, Scott Edwards, said the authority's hard work is paying off, but "we cannot rest on our laurels".

The chairman of Northamptonshire Children's Trust, Julian Wooster, said the inspection "shows we are continuing on the right path".