Children services in Oxfordshire are 'good', Ofsted says

The council received good rating across all five criteria, which include experiences and progress of children in care

Ofsted has reported that Oxfordshire County Council's children's services are "good".

The inspection took place in February as part of the government's inspecting local authority children's services system.

The council scored good across all five areas of inspection criteria, including progress of children in care.

It was praised for "a number of improvements" since the last inspection in 2018, which was also rated good.

According to Ofsted's four-grade framework, Oxfordshire leaders "have made good progress in addressing the areas identified for improvement".

Inspectors have recognised that children and young people in need "receive proportionate and timely support".

The council's children's services were judged as good across all five areas of inspection criteria:

• Overall effectiveness

• Impact of leaders on social work practice with children and families

• Experiences and progress of children who need help and protection

• Experiences and progress of children in care

• Experiences and progress of care leavers

"The chief executive officer is ambitious for children and has a good understanding of the priorities for improving the lives of the most vulnerable children," Ofsted commented.

It added that the newly appointed permanent director of children's services, together with political and corporate leaders, had "a good understanding of what is working well, and the areas for ongoing improvement".

"Additional investment has also enabled services to be developed and strengthened," it said.

Councillor John Howson, cabinet member for children, education and young people's services, said the independent external scrutiny "is important in endorsing the progress we've made".

He added that the result "is testament to the incredible hard work and dedication" of the council's children services teams.

The full report can be found here.

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