‘Continued progress’ for Birmingham’s children’s services

An Ofsted report of Birmingham City Council’s children’s services has heralded ‘continued progress’ and improvement in the quality of social work.

Inspectors found that the city council has sustained the progress already made around reducing caseloads for staff, and also said that child protection plans are outcome focused and reviewed regularly and that regular management oversight is evident in the cases seen by inspectors and is helping to ensure some progress in the majority of cases.

While the report said there were still concerns around some child protection plans ending too early, it made clear that ‘the authority has demonstrated that it has made some continued improvements in the quality of social work practice since the last inspection’.

Carl Rice, cabinet member for children, families and schools, said: “It is pleasing that Ofsted has again confirmed our steady progress; staff are working very hard to ensure that children and families most in need are helped and supported. As with previous monitoring reports, we know there is still more to do as we continue to embed good practice, but we are pleased that the commitment and enthusiasm of our social workers is once again recognised.”