Children's services show significant improvement

Services for children run by Blackpool Council have significantly improved, the education watchdog has said.

When the authority was last inspected by Ofsted in 2022 services were rated as "requires improvement".

This has now been upgraded to "outstanding" in three areas and "good" in one.

Vicky Gent, director of children's services at Blackpool Council, said: "It's amazing for us and for our staff and the council, but ultimately it's about improving outcomes for our children."

Inspectors praised the work being done by leaders at the council, who they said "continued to deliver sustained improvements for children, young people and families".

The report said that "children and their families now benefit from consistently high-quality, innovative services that respond to and meet their needs effectively".

Jim Hobson, cabinet member for children's services on Blackpool Council, said: "To come from inadequate to outstanding in four and a half years is an incredible achievement, the staff in our children's social care department have done an absolutely incredible job."

He said he believed the reason for the success was a change in culture, adding: "When a service gets an inadequate rating from Ofsted it has quite a profound detrimental effect on staff.

"If you walk through our children's social care department now, it's a really good vibe, our social workers are absolutely committed and they are really up for providing the best support we possibly can to our children and families."

Blackpool Council has invested heavily across all areas of children's services in recent years, including in early help, family hubs, adolescent services, and targeted support.

The council has also tried to reduce its use of agency staff to around 7%.

Hobson said: "That tells me that when we have staff come here, they want to stay because they like working in Blackpool."

Ofsted inspectors found that there needed to be improvement in "planning and reviews for children and young people, so that when change is not progressing, and experiences are not improving within the desired time frame, this can be more consistently identified and addressed".

Gent accepted that there was still work to do, adding: "We've got to build on the work that we've done. Time doesn't stand still, and we've got to keep moving forward.

"We've obviously got to build on what we've got and maintain that momentum, and that's certainly going to be a challenge for us over the next couple of years."

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