Disability accessible playground opening
Disability accessible playground opening

Westminster City Council’s Children’s Services have again been rated outstanding by Ofsted in an inspection report published this week.

The service received an outstanding grade across all five judgements. This is reflective of the council’s continued commitment to deliver quality child-centred and family focused services.

Ofsted carried out their inspection in November 2024, seeking children and young people’s experiences of help, protection and care given to them by council staff and evaluating the actions of council leaders to improve these services.

The inspectors highlighted several strengths of Children’s Services in Westminster, including the dedication from social workers to ensure how they work is informed by  children’s views and aspirations, their prompt responses to risk, and their tireless efforts to help children remain with their families.

Our social workers were strongly commended in the report for their highly skilled responses to risk for children, particularly how they and other council staff support children and families who have experienced domestic abuse.

Where children are in the council’s care, the report finds that they receive excellent support from caring social workers who understand the child’s needs and work collaboratively with them to ensure they have the best chances to progress.

The report also highlights the high quality of care provided by the council for disabled children, including timely assessments of their needs, followed by comprehensive support packages tailored to meet those needs with consideration for cultural diversity and other influencing factors. Additionally, staff were praised for their efforts to assist disabled children and their families in accessing advocacy services.

Ofsted note that the excellent and thoughtful services delivered on the ground by practitioners are backed by meaningful political and corporate support, with politicians and senior leaders regularly engaging with children, families and partners to ensure their views are reflected in services. They also praised the fact that many of our officers have a longstanding and deep understanding of our city developed over many years of service.

Ofsted also highlighted the positive impact Labour’s sustained investment has had on improving the council’s services since the last inspection. This includes creating highly effective, impressive early help services in turn providing many families with essential support without escalation into statutory social work.

In light of the ongoing pressures families face following the pandemic and the cost-of-living crisis, there has been an increasing demand for social care support. Social workers are often working with children and parents to address a range of complex issues, including school attendance, mental health, well-being, and domestic abuse.

Whilst continuing to strengthen the Council’s children’s services, since May 2022 the Labour administration has also been able to provide free school meals for local children aged 3-14, to offer meals in the holidays for those in need, to restore council investment in youth clubs, to open the city’s first fully disability accessible playground and reopen services like the ‘stay and play’ at the Bayswater Children’s Centre that the Conservatives had cut.

Deputy Leader and Cabinet member for Children and Public Protection Cllr Aicha Less said:

“I am immensely proud of the outcome of this inspection, which reflects the inspiring dedication and commitment of our staff who show up every day to support children and families in Westminster.

It is especially motivating to see the positive impact of our services across a range of areas, from early help programmes and strong referral connections with partner agencies to the comprehensive and culturally sensitive assessment support provided for disabled children.

Receiving an ‘Outstanding’ result for the third consecutive time, spanning 10 years, is an incredible achievement for the council, although we recognise that pressures on social care services have increased significantly in recent years due to the pandemic and the cost-of-living crisis.

We can’t do what we do by working in isolation, so it’s important to recognise the collaboration and contribution of other services; our fantastic schools and the voluntary and community sector.

We understand the importance of adapting to evolving needs and challenges and can assure you that we will continue to work with the community and local partners to identify how we can improve and achieve better outcomes for children and families in Westminster.

We remain deeply committed to delivering family-focused services that are not only responsive to the needs of children and young people but are also informed by their voices and experiences.

We are proud that we have been able to do this whilst also investing even more to support children in Westminster from free school meals to support for youth clubs under this Labour administration.”

To view the full report visit: London Borough of Westminster – Open – Find an Inspection Report – Ofsted

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