Shropshire Council's children's services rated 'good'
- Published
Shropshire Council's children's services have been rated as 'good' by inspectors
Inspectors have improved a council's rating for children's services, praising its work to keep youngsters safe.
Ofsted assessors spent four weeks examining the work done by Shropshire Council.
It has been rated 'good', up from the 'adequate' rating it received in 2012. It puts it among the top 30% of councils in the UK.
The council said keeping children safe is a "priority".
At the time of the inspection, in September and October, 318 children were being looked after by the local authority, up from 291 from March 2017.
In the report, external, inspectors concluded: "Since the last inspection, the senior leadership has systematically developed and improved services for children.
"For most children, strong social work practice enables them to achieve positive outcomes."
Karen Bradshaw, director of children's services said: "All our staff care deeply about the children in our care and have been working hard for a number of years to improve our services.
"It's brilliant that Ofsted has publically acknowledged this work.
"Our priority is to ensure that our children are safe, and that we provide the highest quality of support and care."
Ofsted said the teams have a strong focus on achieving positive outcomes for children
Help for care leavers
Only 46 local councils across the UK share the 'good' rating.
The report identifies a number of areas for improvement but says many are already being addressed.
In total, 12 recommendations have been made and the report says the council needs to do more work on the progress of children who leave care.
The local Safeguarding Children Board has also been rated as 'good'.