Inverclyde Council praised for young people's care services

The authority received an "excellent rating" for the way it involved families in designing and delivering services

A local authority has become the first in Scotland to receive an "excellent" rating for its children and young people's services.

The Care Inspectorate said Inverclyde was "leading the way" in its involvement of children and families in service design and delivery.

The authority was inspected in May and June 2017.

Inspectors said they looked at how well services worked together to make a "positive difference".

Inverclyde also received ratings of "very good" and "good" after the joint inspection which was carried out with Education Scotland, Healthcare Improvement Scotland and Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary for Scotland.

The way staff assessed and responded to young people's risks and needs was found to be "adequate", with some recommendations made.

The inspection focused on work carried out by the Inverclyde Alliance, the community planning partnership chaired by Inverclyde Council leader Stephen McCabe.

Best start

Mr McCabe said: "Children and young people in Inverclyde get a voice and are listened to. Our approach recognises this and values the input they have in shaping and improving service delivery.

"We believe this approach is sector leading and the rare 'excellent' rating from the inspectors has highlighted that."

Karen Reid, chief executive of the Care Inspectorate, said Inverclyde "exemplified" an approach designed to give children the best possible start in life.

"While we have noted some areas which could improve, particularly in the consistency of the initial risk assessment in response to children who may be experiencing neglect, we are aware that action has already been taken to address this," she said.

"We have a high level of confidence that the current momentum in delivering improvement and change in the lives of children, young people and their families will be sustained."