Staff working in Reading children’s services have made some progress but still need to improve in order to be judged as ‘good’ accord to a new Ofsted inspection.
The inspectors said that compared to its 2019 report, there have been improvements but still some cause for concern.
Children’s services in Reading are run independently for Reading Borough Council by its company, Brighter Futures for Children (BFfC).
Inspectors examined arrangements for children in need and those subject to a child protection plan, and often have social workers to manage their cases. The report notes that the ‘the pace of change needs to accelerate’ and identified crucial areas to act on.
“Social workers do not sufficiently consider the extent of cumulative harm that children experience, and this leads to overly optimistic assessments of parental capacity to change,” it reads.
“Assessments often consider only the last referral and do not take sufficient account of family history. Chronologies are not routinely completed. A small number of children do not get the intensive help that they need soon enough.”
However, BFfC was praised for its work with disabled children.
“Skilled social work ensures that children get the help that they need,” the report states. “All disabled children needing a statutory service receive help from the same team, and this enables long-standing relationships between children, families and professionals to flourish.
“A bespoke service ensures that older children do not fall between gaps in provision.”
Oftsed found other areas to tackle, including helping enhance ways in which children to voice their wishes.
As a result, the rating for children’s services was kept at its 2019 level: ‘requires improvement to be good’.
Deborah Glassbrook, executive director of children’s services at Reading Borough Council, said: “Brighter Futures for Children welcomes the focused visit and the inspectors’ valuable feedback.
“Some of the feedback was encouraging and positive – in line with recent Ofsted inspections of other areas of our service which have been rated ‘Good’ or above – but there are clearly some areas in need of improvement.
“We have immediately enhanced our continuous improvement plan to ensure those areas which need greater focus and pace are addressed. The service restructure that was planned before the visit is now well under way and will support our improved delivery of services to children, young people and their families. We have also met with key partners to ensure we are taking a strategic and joint approach.”
She continued: “We’d like to reassure Reading residents that inspectors did not identify any ‘priority actions’ for us and no children were found to be at immediate risk of harm.
“While the pandemic has created extra challenges for our services, we fully accept the findings of the focused visit and are determined to improve all aspects of the services we offer.
“Having made significant progress and had very positive formal recognition in many other areas of our work, we will concentrate on the areas of development identified here to ensure consistent and sustainable improvements across all services we offer to children, young people and their families in Reading.”
The inspection was conducted in February.
