Improvements to the services provided for care leavers in Bath and North East Somerset have been highlighted during a visit to Children’s Services by Ofsted in November.
The support the council provides to young people as they move from care into independent adulthood was the subject of a focussed visit from the education and skills inspection body, which found that ‘the local offer is comprehensive, accessible and ambitious and its impact is tangible.’
After a ‘Good’ rating during a full Ofsted inspection in 2017 and a positive feedback letter from an inspection of local services for children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities earlier in 2019, the latest visit report letter confirms that improvements have been made since Ofsted last looked at these services.
Ofsted also noted a ‘clear corporate and political commitment to improving the service, that is informed by the views and experiences of young people’, ‘young people appreciate the level of passion and dedication displayed by workers’ and that ‘young people’s physical and emotional health are well catered for’.
Councillor Kevin Guy, cabinet member for Children’s Services, said: “It is hugely positive to see the recognition of the level of commitment to our young people throughout the organisation, but it is also heartening to see that inspectors found from talking to staff that morale is high and staff have ready access to supportive managers who know the young people well.
“We are never complacent and we will be building the latest findings into our improvement plan going forward.”
Some areas for further improvement identified by inspectors included ensuring that assessments and plans are timely and up-to-date and further improving managers’ use of performance information and audit.
The visit report letter can be viewed here: https://files.ofsted.gov.uk/v1/file/50135441.