SERVICES have improved at Solihull Council for young people, say education watchdog Ofsted.
During the fifth monitoring visit to the authority’s children’s service last month since it was deemed inadequate in November 2022 inspectors noted ‘tangible improvements’ for those aged 18 to 25 years who experienced care.
A letter from Ofsted inspector, Rebecca Quested, praised the work of personal advisers at the Council who were seen to go above and beyond the call of duty in some cases.
Ms Quested also said their workloads were too high and noted that recruitment was under way at the time of the inspection to address that.
She said: “Senior leaders have made tangible improvements in services for care experienced young people in Solihull.
“Personal advisers care about their care experienced young people and make sure they know this by taking an interest in their lives. For example, one personal advisers travelled to support his young person, who was running the London marathon and another went to see their young person at work.
“Most care experienced young people are in good health, or are being supported to access the services they need to improve their well-being. Personal advisers encourage young people to attend health appointments so that their physical and emotional health needs can be met. They are persistent and keep returning to issues until the young person feels ready to address them.”
Ms Quested noted that very few young people were in unsuitable accommodation but where it happened the personal advisers would keep in touch and help find somewhere more suitable to live.
It was also noted that: “Senior leaders understand the strengths and areas for improvement for care experienced young people well. They have revised strategies, policies and procedures which provide the structure to improve the effectiveness of support and services for care experienced young people.”
In his weekly column Councillor Ian Courts, leader of Solihull Council said: “It is gratifying to see our ongoing improvement plan beginning to bear fruit, and the hard work of our staff having a real impact. We know there is much work yet to be done, but we will continue to take the necessary steps.
“Indeed, Ofsted indicated a need to hire more personal advisors to keep making the service better, and in the month since their visit we have done just that. We are taking action.”
A Solihull Council spokesperson said – “We welcome the report from Ofsted’s recent monitoring visit. Inspectors recognised the positive impact of our ongoing improvement programme and identified many areas of strength, which reflects the hard work of our staff to deliver high-quality services for our care leavers.
“The report highlighted the need for us to recruit additional personal advisers to support continued improvement. We are pleased to confirm that, since the inspectors’ visit, we have successfully done so.”
Last year, Sir Alan Wood, was appointed as a commissioner to help the Council improve its children’s social care following failings found at the council.
