Improvements have been recognised in the County Council’s provision of appropriate placements for Cambridgeshire children in care, according to an Ofsted report, published today (Thursday, 9 July).
Ofsted, the regulator and inspector of children’s services, carried out a focused visit in June, looking at Cambridgeshire County Council’s arrangements for children in care.
Having spoken to children, social workers, carers and managers and inspected record-keeping practices, the inspectors concluded that significant improvements have been made since their last visit in 2024, although some areas of practice remain in need of development.
A range of successes and areas of good practice were highlighted in a letter. Inspectors commented that: ‘With the growth of kinship care, more children now benefit from living in homes which are well matched to meet their identity and needs. Additionally, more children now benefit from leaving care with their legal permanence secured’.
Inspectors also found that there had ‘been an improvement in the stability of the workforce at every level […] enabling social work practice to develop and for workloads to decrease so that social workers have the opportunity to improve children’s experiences.’
The letter states further that ‘Social workers enjoy working in Cambridgeshire’ and ‘speak with pride and care about the children they are working with’. Social workers also ‘describe a visible senior leadership team whose members […] are approachable. Social workers value the training [on] offer and feel that this is directly improving their social work practice.’
The summary also identifies four areas for improvement:
- the sufficiency of accommodation to meet the needs of children in care in Cambridgeshire;
- the quality and consistency of children’s case records to reflect decision-making and children’s journeys through care;
- the quality and effectiveness of supervision in progressing children’s plans; and
- the quality and effectiveness of quality assurance activities to implement learning and develop social work practice.
A comprehensive action plan is developed after each inspection of Cambridgeshire’s children’s services in order to drive improvement in the areas identified. The council will continue to work hard to develop a wide range of care options for children who cannot remain at home. Ensuring that children in care live in the best available homes – full of love, care and support – remains an absolute priority.
Cllr Edna Murphy, Chair of the Children and Young People Committee at Cambridgeshire County Council, said: “I’m pleased that Ofsted’s focused visit found significant improvements in our children’s services. This report affirms the substantial effort and resource that has been devoted to improving the experiences of children in the council’s care over the last couple of years.
“As a Council, we take our responsibility as Corporate Parents – to provide the best possible start in life for the county’s looked-after children and young people – extremely seriously. It’s therefore especially gratifying to read that more children now live in homes well-matched to their identity and needs, and that more children are now leaving care with their legal permanence secured through special guardianship orders.
“We must be clear – we are still not yet where we want to be. We have not made as much progress in some areas as we would like – and the plans we have in place to address this are not yet positively impacting children’s experiences.
“However, it’s great to hear that our social workers speak about the children they support with pride and enjoy working in Cambridgeshire. Indeed, improved workforce retention is delivering real benefits for our children and young people, in terms of increased contact time, helping to empower them to live full, healthy lives.”
Read the letter in full: 50307019
