Improvements have been recognised in the way that the County Council provides support and stability for care leavers in Cambridgeshire, according to an Ofsted report, which was published today (Friday, 29 August).
Ofsted, the regulator and inspector of children’s social care, carried out a focused visit in July, looking at Cambridgeshire County Council’s arrangements for care leavers. Having spoken to care leavers, personal advisors, staff and managers, the inspectors concluded that arrangements have strengthened since their last visit in 2024, although there is still work to be done.
A range of successes and areas of good practice were highlighted in a letter. Inspectors commented that: ‘Leaders are ambitious to support care leavers into employment, further education and training opportunities[...] The local authority is trailblazing the use of bursaries for care leavers over 19, supporting care leavers to remain longer in further education or giving care leavers who wish to return to employment, education or training, these opportunities.’
They also found that: ‘Care leavers now have stronger and more purposeful relationships with their personal advisors and investment in additional staffing in the service is helping to reduce staff turnover and workloads.’ ‘Most care leavers live in suitable accommodation that meets their needs and increasing numbers are supported to remain living with their current carers through effective Staying Put arrangements.’
The report recognised the progress made in evolving the strategies that support care leavers: ‘Political and corporate leaders and care leavers have co-produced a convincing and aspirational pledge which sets out their commitment to help care leavers fulfil their full potential.’
The summary also identifies four areas for improvement:
- The quality and impact of front-line manager’s supervision to promote and provide reflective practice for personal advisors
- The quality and impact of front-line managers oversight to ensure purposeful and considered case direction
- The quality and consistency of pathway planning
- The range and accessibility of suitable accommodation to meet care leavers needs.
A comprehensive action plan is in place to ensure further improvement in the areas identified, including a continued focus on high quality support for managers to further improve the quality of practice.
Having built relationships with housing providers and the district and city councils, the County Council will also focus upon ways to ensure young people can access appropriate accommodation when they need it.
Councillor Edna Murphy, Chair of the Children and Young People Committee at Cambridgeshire County Council, said: “I’m pleased that Ofsted’s focused visit found many improvements in the way we support our care leavers, recognising the hard work and investment put into this vital area.
“As a Council, we take our role as Corporate Parents for the county’s looked-after children and care leavers extremely seriously. In recent years, we have made a number of commitments to supporting our care leavers, including granting them ‘protected characteristic’ status.
“There is still more we can - and must - do to improve our support for care leavers, and we’re already seeing progress in a number of areas following our full inspection by Ofsted last year. Recruiting additional personal advisors has helped to reduce workloads, which in turn has enabled advisors to work with care leavers from a younger age to create more stability, ensuring they are well supported at the earliest opportunity.
“The council is committed to staying in touch with our care leavers beyond 21 years old. One care leaver interviewed by Ofsted described the support they received as ‘life-changing’. This sort of feedback is so important to us as it demonstrates the positive impact of our effort and the hard work of our staff.”
You can read the letter in full at: 50285468
