'Inadequate' Northants fostering service upgraded to 'good'

Northamptonshire's child fostering service has been upgraded to 'good' by Ofsted inspectors

A fostering service rated "inadequate" a year ago has been upgraded to "good".

Inspectors said there had been "significant improvements" at Northamptonshire Children's Trust's Independent Fostering Agency.

The last inspection revealed several issues including a lack of contact between the agency and families.

The Trust said the new grading was "a real testament to the commitment" of staff.

Northamptonshire Children's Trust was formed when the children's social care department split from Northamptonshire County Council in 2020.

It is owned by North Northamptonshire and West Northamptonshire Councils but is managed independently.

When its fostering agency, which cares for 500 children, was inspected last year, inspectors found staff struggling with high workloads.

In one case, they could find no record of a social worker having a conversation with a child for more than a year.

The latest report found the situation was now very different.

Ofsted inspectors found children cared for by the fostering agency "are settled and make good progress"

The inspectors said: "Supervising social workers spend time with children on a regular basis.

"This has helped to improve the overall quality of relationships between children, foster carers and their supervising social workers."

They concluded that "children are settled and make good progress".

They also found staff were working hard to understand what children were actually going through.

They graded the effectiveness of leaders and managers as "requiring improvement to be good", but added they believed the senior leadership team had the "capacity to achieve the remaining changes".

Northamptonshire Children's Trust chief executive Colin Foster said the upgrading was "fantastic"

Colin Foster, the trust' chief executive, said: "It is fantastic that Ofsted judge our independent fostering agency as 'good'.

"Attaining this has been no mean feat and it is a real testament to the commitment and hard work of colleagues in the service to reach this."

Scott Edwards, cabinet member for children and families, said: "I am assured by the news that Ofsted has recognised the significant improvements in our fostering service and the positive impact it is having on the children and young people that are cared for.

"There are few things more important than the lives of vulnerable children."