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Press release: Strengths and weaknesses of local authority children's services highlighted following new annual performance assessments

More needs to be done to improve the life chances of looked after children

Procedures for reviewing and auditing child protection cases, health assessments for looked after children, some reduction in the rates of offending by children and young people and work to promote healthy lifestyles in schools are some of the strengths of many local authority children’s services identified in a new report published today by the Office for Standards in Education (Ofsted) and the Commission for Social Care Inspection (CSCI).

Today’s report,Annual Performance Assessment (APA) of Local Authority Children’s Services 2005: Report on outcomes, examines the contribution made by councils to improving the life chances of children and young people and highlights examples of good practice in 20 councils. The report is based on findings from the first year of assessments carried out by Ofsted and CSCI as part of the new integrated inspection arrangements for local authority children’s services.

The report also highlights key areas that local authorities need to focus on in order to improve the services they provide for children and young people. These include ensuring that looked after children attend school and attain highly, ensuring their longer term stability with carers and increasing the number of adoptions. Others include further work by councils to prevent offending and reoffending by children and young people, reducing teenage pregnancy rates and improving access to high quality mental health support.

Speaking on behalf of Ofsted and CSCI, Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Schools, Maurice Smith, said:

“The findings from the first year of the new assessments show that three quarters of local authorities provide services for children and young people that are well above, or consistently above, minimum requirements. In addition, a high proportion of authorities have a good or excellent capacity to maintain their current high performance or to further improve their services for children and young people.

“However, more must be done to improve the life chances of certain groups of young people, particularly looked after children, and councils will need to demonstrate sustained improvement to meet the new requirements for children’s services as they come into force this year.”

The report finds councils perform well in the field of education and three quarters of councils deliver services that are well above, or consistently above, minimum requirements. In the best examples, there is a strong and positive partnership with schools and support services, which is built on shared and aspirational targets for improvement.

However, the report identifies a “worrying” gap between the successful and unsuccessful authorities in three critical areas of their education services. Although looked after children are well supported and achieve good outcomes in about half of authorities, they are inadequately supported and achieve low outcomes in almost the same proportion. Key Stage 4 attainment is improving nationally and this picture is reflected in the APA letters for more than four out of 10 authorities, however further improvement is necessary in almost the same proportion. School attendance rates are high or improving in four out of 10 authorities but require substantial improvement in a further three out of 10. In addition, for the fifth successive year, one in eight looked after children were absent from school for at least 25 days during the year.

More than 60% of councils provide social care services for children that are consistently above minimum requirements. This represents an increase from 2004 when just under half of all authorities delivered at this level.

Those areas that Ofsted and CSCI have identified as needing improvement will be a central focus of the 2006 assessments, as well as being targeted in fieldwork in the joint area reviews that are carried out in the following 12 months.

The report examines regional patterns in the performance of local authority children’s services and highlights examples of good practice in 17 councils. These include: Knowsley, City of York, East Riding of Yorkshire Council, Bexley, Croydon, County Durham, Gateshead, Leicestershire and Rutland, Lewisham, North Yorkshire, Redbridge, Shropshire, Surrey, Tower Hamlets, Wandsworth, Worcestershire and Milton Keynes.

Mr Smith added:

“I would like to congratulate all those involved in the good work being carried out by local authorities. They are helping to improve the life chances of children and young people. I hope that sharing this good practice will help drive forward improvements across all local authorities.”

Notes For Editors

1. Annual Performance Assessment (APA) of Local Authority Children’s Services 2005 and Evaluation of the Manageability of the joint area review and corporate assessment process are available on the website.

2. APAs are carried out by Ofsted and the Commission for Social Care Inspection (CSCI). The APA report published today is based on the findings from annual performance assessments carried out in 147 councils in 2005. At the time of writing the final outcomes for the remaining three authorities were not available.

3. Today’s report has been published by Ofsted and the CSCI, in collaboration with the Adult Learning Inspectorate, the Audit Commission, the Healthcare Commission, HM Inspectorate of Constabulary, HM Inspectorate of Probation, HM Inspectorate of Prisons, HM Inspectorate of Court Administration and HM Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate.

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