Children's Services: "Outstanding" to "Good"Leicestershire’s services for children and young people are always "good" and are often "outstanding." The news comes from the Joint Area Review (JAR) (PDF, 310kb), which examines services for children and young people provided by the County Council, police, NHS and voluntary sector. The report says: - Management of services is “outstanding”
- Capacity to improve is “outstanding”
- Safeguarding of children is “good”
- Services for looked-after children are “good”
- Services for children with learning difficulties and/or disabilities are “good”
Ivan Ould, the County Council’s Cabinet member for children and young people, said: “This report shows that the County Council and its partners are working hard to provide the best possible support and opportunities for children and young people. "We are very proud of the professionalism and commitment shown by all staff who work with young people. This excellent report is testimony to their contribution. “We are determined to make further improvements and are encouraged that the inspectors believe our management and ability to improve is outstanding, despite the fact we receive relatively low levels of funding.” Strengths listed in the report include: - An outstanding Local Safeguarding Children Board
- High quality care from well-trained and supported foster carers
- Strongly developed and effective preventative services
- A shared commitment to providing high quality local services for children and young people with learning disabilities
Areas for improvement include: - Improving the attendance of older looked-after children
- Improving support for children and young people with challenging behaviour
The report says that good outcomes are achieved, despite comparatively low levels of funding. Today’s report follows the Audit Commission’s recent Comprehensive Performance Assessment of the entire County Council, which placed it in the highest possible category – four stars and improving strongly. Only 13 councils out of 150 have reached that standard.
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