Ofsted rates Westmorland and Furness children’s services as 'good'

Ofsted inspected Westmorland and Furness Council’s children’s services for the first time between April 22 and May 2 this year and determined the provision of services by the new authority as ‘good’.

Director of children’s services at Westmorland and Furness Council Milorad Vasic paid ‘heartfelt gratitude’ to the commitment and professionalism shown by staff.

Mr Vasic said: “The respect they show to children and families and the fact they’re always thinking about how can they deliver and work to make a difference to those children and young people, however small that is, it’s big for those children and families.”

Children’s services at the former local authority Cumbria County Council were judged as ‘inadequate’ in 2015, then as ‘requires improvement to be good’ in 2017 and 2022.

Mr Vasic said: “We’re still on a journey, I’m really pleased that Ofsted have found us to be good and that we know what we need to do to improve but for me it’s really ‘is good, good enough?’ and I guess what staff would say is ‘no we can do better.’”

This is the first inspection of children’s services at Westmorland and Furness Council since local government reorganisation took place in April 2023.

The report from Ofsted said: “Senior leaders have responded effectively and positively to local government reorganisation and the newly formed council has firmly established a unique identity.

“Senior leaders took swift action to recruit to, and stabilise, the workforce. They have embedded a shared vision across the workforce and with partner agencies that is supporting service improvements. As a result, the experiences and progress of children who need help and protection, and for children in care, are good.

According to Ofsted the council’s children’s services were judged as ‘good’ in four of the five categories they inspect but was graded ‘requires improvement to be good’ in the experiences and progress of care leavers.

The report from the education watchdog said pathway plans are not ‘consistently comprehensive’ and added care leavers are not ‘routinely provided’ with their health histories when they reach adulthood.

However, the inspectors report states: “A robust and wide-ranging programme of quality assurance and development activity, which includes external scrutiny and review, is ensuring that leaders are largely aware of, and have credible plans to improve, the areas for development. This includes the quality of plans. It also includes the response to care leavers, which requires improvement to be good.”

The director of children’s services also spoke about the next steps moving forwards for the council.

He told the local democracy reporting service that the council has a five-year strategy called ‘Our ambition for every child’ which sets out what the local authority wants to do to ensure every child is happy and has the opportunity to do well.

Mr Vasic said: “The next steps really are building on what we’ve done well within children’s social care and the practices that we’re developing, some of the training and ideas staff have had.

“But that’s set against a wider strategic intention and commitment by local authority members and my colleagues across the council to really put children at the heart of the community and think about what we can collectively do to improve and make a difference to their lives.”