South Tyneside Council’s children’s services rated ‘inadequate’ by Ofsted

Ofsted has stated that there has been a decline in the quality of services since its last full inspection in 2017.

Concerns were raised around the deterioration of strategic oversight, poor recording-keeping of management decisions and significant numbers of children being placed in unregistered children’s homes.

According to South Tyneside Council, Ofsted inspectors have recognised that the local authority has been quick to take decisive action and has already made significant changes to ensure it can develop services for children and young people.

Following the poor inspection, Cllr Tracey Dixon, the leader of South Tyneside Council, has pledged a commitment to improving children’s services across the borough.

She said: “Naturally, we are disappointed with the rating but understand and accept where we have fallen short.

“We accept that there are areas that need improved practice, and we are absolutely determined to raise the bar and deliver children’s services of the highest possible standard in South Tyneside.

“We are passionate about children in South Tyneside; we have a history of supporting our children in care and have robust package of support in place for care leavers.

“The council is absolutely committed to driving up standards for children and young people in our care, our partners have made that same commitment.”

South Tyneside Council has confirmed that the scrutiny of management has already been tightened so families can be assured that decision making is now “robust”.

The council is also working to improve management recording and supervision, with the report stating in its conclusion that improvements to management practice had been found within children’s services.

Additional placements in registered children’s homes have also been found and plans are in place for two new children’s homes and an assessment centre in the borough.

South Tyneside Council has set up an Improvement Board with its partners to create a plan, which will be agreed with Ofsted, to address the areas of concern.

Jonathan Tew, South Tyneside Council’s chief executive, commented: “We have acted immediately to put in place measures to implement rapid improvement for our children and families.

“This has been endorsed by our partners on the Improvement Board and noted by Ofsted. We are as confident as we can be that that we are doing everything government would expect us to do.

“Colleagues across children’s services have shown phenomenal resilience despite the daily challenges and pressures teams face. We have a wonderful team of passionate and committed staff who are on board with us on through our journey of improvement.”

Despite the overall rating, Ofsted inspectors did note improvements in some areas since the 2017 inspection, including an improved response to children who are missing or at risk of exploitation, improvements to the quality of children’s plans, children’s participation, and the quality of supervision in the leaving care team.

Ofsted made seven recommendations for improvement following its latest inspection, all of which have seen significant progress to date says South Tyneside Council.

Ofsted will review and sign off the local authority’s improvement plan within the next two months and then a commence a schedule of quarterly monitoring visits to track the progress of the plan.

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