Ofsted inspectors have praised Northumberland’s children's services for their work to provide young people with safe and secure long-term care.  

  

At its last full inspection in 2020, Ofsted rated children’s services at Northumberland County Council as “good” across the board. 
 

Inspectors returned to carry out a focused visit in July 2022, as part of the overall inspection framework, to shine a spotlight on the local authority’s arrangements for planning and achieving permanence for children who are looked after, including adoption. 
 

Inspectors found that in Northumberland, parents are appropriately supported in order to provide the best opportunity for children to remain living at home with them. This included safe and timely discharge of care orders for children who are placed at home with their parents. Where it is not possible to maintain a child with or return them to their parents, prompt action is taken to ensure the child is placed with permanent carers at the earliest opportunity. This includes timely and effective legal work. 
 

The report said that children’s permanence plans meet their individual needs. Family members are considered as alternatives to foster care and where long-term foster care is right for children, they are carefully matched to long term foster carers.

Where children are adopted or move to carers under a special guardianship order, those parents and carers receive enhanced support to help the children develop early attachments.  
 

Sensitive and child-centred social work helps children to engage with plans and understand their journey. 

Young people who are supported in Northumberland Adolescent Service benefit from access to a range of professionals, including emotional well-being and youth justice practitioners, where appropriate, who provide wrap-around care. 
 

Managers offer positive supervision and support to workers which they appreciate although the recording of this is variable. All workers spoken to by inspectors were positive about working for Northumberland. 
 

Councillor Guy Renner-Thompson, Cabinet Member with resbility for Children’s Services, Northumberland County Council, said: “We want all our young people to have the best start in life and a safe and secure home is key to enabling them to reach their full potential.  
 

“I am proud that Ofsted inspectors recognised the dedication of our teams and all the hard work that has gone on – on top of the challenges of the pandemic. 
 

“But we are not complacent and continue to strive to do the best we possibly can for our children and young people.” 
 

Graham Reiter, Interim Director of Children’s Services and Director of Children’s Social Care, said: “Where children cannot be safely supported to return or remain at home, making sure they have safe and secure long-term care is one of our key priorities and I am pleased that the quality of our practice has been recognised by Ofsted.  

 

“I am particularly pleased that our creative and child-centred social work has been highlighted and we are all incredibly grateful to the carers who provide the care for our children and young people.  

 

 “I’m delighted that all of the social workers spoken to by inspectors during the visit were positive about working for Northumberland, that they enjoy their work and feel supported by their managers.  

 

“Our teams put the best interests of our young people at the heart of all that they do and I’m glad that this was also reflected in the report.  

 

“We are constantly reviewing our practice and we will take on the recommendations of the report as we continue to strive to deliver the best service possible to the young people of Northumberland and their families.” 
 

Read the most recent report here.