Children’s Services in Croydon has seen a dramatic turn around.

But the council’s leader says he is not complacent and wants to see further improvements.

The service has been rated ‘good’ by Ofsted, two -and-a-half years after it was placed in special measures.

Since then the council has invested an extra £10million a year to improve the department and increase the number of social workers.

And looking at the latest report from inspectors, which was published today (Monday, March 16) it seems to have worked.

The report said: “Services for children in need of help and protection are now good, and services for children in care and care leavers are improving well.

“Senior managers have ensured that they are well informed about the quality of services through performance management information and directly engaging with frontline staff.

“They are fully aware of the areas that still require improvement and demonstrate a relentless determination to deliver high-quality services to all children in Croydon. They have created an environment in which staff feel valued and enjoy working in the borough.”

Social workers

Croydon is home to 94,000 children under the age of 18 and the council looks after around 800 children in care – more than anywhere else in London.

This includes around 300 unaccompanied asylum-seeking children (UASCs), which is 10 per cent of the total number of UASCs in the country.

The report found that assessments of these children contain a clear analysis of their needs and any potential discrimination that children might face and managers are addressing the need to strengthen improve making records when children transfer to other local authorities.

In the past few years one of the problems in the service was the high turnover of social workers.

The latest report says that this turnover has now reduced meaning staff “have the opportunity to build more trusting relationships with children”.

It found that children in care are now seen regularly by staff and that meetings involve a clear focus on their care plans, but it says the effectiveness of this is “undermined” by the turnover of social workers for children in care.

The report adds: “Senior managers know this and they are unrelenting in their efforts to recruit and retain a more stable workforce.”

What still needs to improve

The service has jumped two ratings to ‘good’ in most areas except ‘the experiences and progress of children in care and care leavers’ which inspectors said “requires improvement to be good”.

Inspectors say there are four areas that need improvement:

The quality of written plans for children in need, children in care and care leavers.

Services for homeless 16 and 17-year-olds.

Help for care leavers, especially  the range of suitable accommodation,

responses to emotional health needs and preparation for independence.

Placement sufficiency for children in care, and accommodation for care leavers.

“Very positive outcome”

Council leader, councillor Tony Newman, said that he would like to see the service continuing to improve to eventually be rated ‘Outstanding’ by Ofsted.

“It is a very positive outcome, a good result for Croydon,” said Cllr Newman.

“It reflects the hard work of our staff and partners in turning this service around.

“It is a strong recovery but I know other local authorities have turned around to good and and seemed to go back down again.

“We are determined that the best approach for us is to continue, even with tough budget choices to drive improvements to see it improve further.”

And he hopes that this turnaround will see vacancies in the department filled more easily.

Cllr Newman added: “It is absolutely now a far more attractive place for staff to stay with us.

“It is a strong workforce and much more permanent work force than before.”