Massive improvement as children’s services in Oldham rated ‘good’ by Ofsted

Children’s services in Oldham have been rated ‘good’ by Ofsted - after being criticised by inspectors in 2019. 

The watchdog praised the council’s ‘relentless focus on improvement’ in the past five years.

In 2019, the service was put in the ‘requires improvement’ category in all areas. 

An inspection found children in Oldham ‘now benefit from good-quality help and support’ in the borough and that services had improved ‘despite increased level of demand’. 

The council received ‘good’ ratings in all inspection areas including the treatment of kids in care, social work and vulnerable kids. 

The 2019 report raised ‘significant concerns’ about an ‘inconsistent’ quality of care.

Inspectors found kids were ‘waiting too long to get the services they needed’ and that homeless young people aged 16 to 17 were slipping through the cracks. 

Inspector Rebekah Tucker praised the service for ‘recognising and responding well’ to children at risk of exploitation and the ‘creative and persistent work undertaken by committed staff to engage highly vulnerable children’. 

Services for disabled children have also ‘significantly improved’ since the last inspection. 

And 16 to 17-year-olds facing homelessness received a ‘well coordinated response’ from housing children’s services. 

Council boss Arooj Shah said she was pleased to see the local authority ‘heading in the right direction’. 

Shah said: “I am absolutely thrilled with this outcome that reflects our commitment to keeping children safe and keeping families together.

"This is about saving lives and that’s what our teams do.

"Our dedicated social workers have shown their excellence and I couldn’t be prouder of them.” 

Councillor Shaid Mushtaq, who leads on children and young people, said: “This is robust, independent evidence which tells everyone in the borough that children are safe in Oldham and the most vulnerable are protected.

“Sadly, since the pandemic there has been a surge in demand for children’s social care right across the UK.

"Funding from the previous government has not remotely kept up with this demand, but we were determined to invest in every part of our service to improve on where we were in 2019.

“Our children’s social care service has been transformed in recent years, and that’s part of the improvement journey we are on as a council.” 

The report said the protection of young people improved because of a ‘strong and stable leadership team’.

The service has also seen greater levels of financial investment and more ‘stability’ in maintaining staff levels. 

While the news was positive, there are still areas that need improvement.

Ofsted found that kids in care homes benefitted from ‘meaningful engagements’ with their social workers but that some had experienced several changes in social workers, meaning not all could build stable relationships. 

Oldham also recently saw a damning report into its support for kids with SEND.

The review by Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission last year identified ‘systemic failings’ resulting in ‘excessive waits’ for family members and kids that needed to be ‘urgently addressed’.

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