Rochdale improves front door social work practice
Social work practice at the ‘front door’ in Rochdale has improved since the last inspection in 2018, Ofsted has said.
Consideration of children’s needs is at the centre of all work seen during the focused visit to Rochdale children’s services.
"When concerns arise for children in Rochdale, they receive a prompt and effective response, and children who [...]
Staff morale high in Nottinghamshire MASH
Staff morale is high in the MASH and assessment teams at Nottinghamshire and staff have manageable caseloads, Ofsted has reported.
However, planning processes for undertaking child protection enquiries are not always robust. Strategy discussions are not always timely, and this delays formal decisions on child protection investigations.
"The rationale for decisions is not sufficiently explained in children’s [...]
Significant concerns at Torbay have not been addressed
Senior leaders have failed to address the significant concerns identified during the re-inspection of Torbay children’s services in June 2018, Ofsted has said.
Capacity issues in the safeguarding assessment teams (SATS) and safeguarding and family support service (SAFS) are considerable, with too few social workers to carry out the work needed, the first monitoring visit since [...]
South Gloucestershire makes progress in child protection
South Gloucestershire Council continues to make progress in improving services for children in need of help and protection and for those receiving support from the disability services, Ofsted has said.
Senior managers have addressed the weaknesses in the access and referral teams identified at the first monitoring visit of 19 and 20 September 2017, the sixth [...]
Increased caseloads hinder progress at Durham
The pace of change at Durham children's services has been hindered since the last inspection in 2016.
High staff turnover and increased demand for services have resulted in increased caseloads which, coupled with an outdated electronic system, has hindered the pace of change required since the local authority was judged as requires improvement to be good [...]
Social media giants urged to tackle inappropriate content
Social media companies have been accused of treating child users as an after-thought by the children's commissioner for England.
Anne Longfield has questioned whether the owners of the leading social media organisations, including Facebook, which includes Instagram and WhatsApp, Snapchat, Youtube and Pinterest, have any control over their content.
"None of the platforms regularly used by [...]
