Safeguarding at some councils “not good enough”, says Chief Inspector

One in five local authorities who received a full safeguarding inspection in 2010/11 were judged inadequate for services that keep children and young people safe, Ofsted’s annual report has revealed.

The watchdog said nine out of 47 councils were rated inadequate, while 25 were adequate and 13 were good.

The report meanwhile suggested that inspections of local authority services for looked after children showed much good practice, “but no service was outstanding and overall there was too much variation”.

Key findings in relation to social care also included that:

• Unannounced inspections of 133 local authorities’ contact, referral and assessment arrangements revealed that – in the vast majority of cases – appropriate actions had been taken to improve the arrangements for children at risk since their previous inspection
• Of the 46 looked after children services inspected, 26 were adequate, 19 were good and one was inadequate
• 77% of the 731 children’s homes inspected were judged good or outstanding. Ofsted said this showed "a clear trajectory of improvement" since September 2007, when just 58% were good or outstanding
• At the most recent inspection of the 327 children’s homes which also provide education or are linked to education providers, the education provided was judged good or outstanding in around half of cases. However, in 11% it was inadequate
• The quality of care in one of the four secure training centres inspected was inadequate. The three other centres were rated outstanding. Ofsted noted that a downward trend in the use of restraint in secure training centres had been observed over the last two years
• More than three-quarters of the 102 fostering agencies and services inspected (79%) were rated as providing good or better services. However, one in five (21%) of these services were “no better than satisfactory”
• All but seven of the 68 adoption agencies inspected were found to be good or outstanding. “However, too many children are waiting too long to be adopted.”

Miriam Rosen, Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector, said it was “particularly worrying” to reflect on the numbers of local authorities that were providing inadequate safeguarding services for children.

“Given that they are providing care for the most vulnerable children of all, this is not good enough,” she said.

In relation to schools, Ofsted’s findings included that:

• Overall, “in a context of targeted inspection”, 11% of schools were judged outstanding; 46% good; 38% satisfactory and 6% inadequate this year. This compared to 2009/10’s figures where 13% were outstanding; 43% good; 37% satisfactory and 8% inadequate
• The ‘state of the nation’ picture, looking at the most recent inspection judgement for all schools in England, showed that 20% of schools are outstanding; 50% are good; 28% are satisfactory and 2% are inadequate. This was similar to the overall picture at 31 August 2010
• The total number of schools in a category of concern – that is, judged to be in special measures or being given a notice to improve – reduced from 553 at the end of 2009/10 to 451
• A third of all schools inspected during 2010/11 improved their performance compared with their previous inspection and nearly half maintained their performance. Nearly a fifth received a lower overall effectiveness grade. “This is a slightly more positive picture than in 2009/10”
• Schools are emerging from special measures faster than the previous year – after an average of 18 months rather than 20
• In the fifth of schools serving the least deprived pupils, 27% of schools were satisfactory
• Most of the academies inspected in 2010/11 were sponsored academies where previously the school had experienced a history of failure or low performance. Of the 75 academies inspected, 40 were judged to be providing a good or outstanding education for their pupils. Five were inadequate.

The report also includes a range of findings in relation to early years and childcare, as well as learning and skills (colleges, adult learning and work based learning). It can be downloaded here.

Rosen said strides had been taken by some of those services that had previously been judged as failing. “As Ofsted moves towards more targeted inspection, focussing more on those services that most need to improve, I hope we will see continuing improvement in the rate of progress being made,” she said.

However, the Chief Inspector added: “It is of great concern to see the high numbers of schools, colleges and childcare providers that are consistently delivering services for children and young people that are no better than satisfactory. Ensuring that there is real improvement must be a matter of urgency for these organisations.”