Children's services '˜transformed' in wake of child sex abuse scandal

Social services for children and families in Rotherham have been 'transformed' in just under three years according to Government inspectors as efforts continue to turn around 'two decades of failure' in the wake of the child sex abuse scandal.
Rotherham Council's strategic director of children's services Ian Thomas. Picture Scott Merrylees.Rotherham Council's strategic director of children's services Ian Thomas. Picture Scott Merrylees.
Rotherham Council's strategic director of children's services Ian Thomas. Picture Scott Merrylees.

Rotherham Council has been given an overall ‘good’ rating by Ofsted - an increase of two judgement levels - in the first re-inspection since being rated as ‘inadequate’.

This includes an ‘outstanding’ sub-rating for the experience and progress of its care leavers.

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The department was judged to be failing in most areas by Ofsted in the wake of the Jay Report, which laid bare how at least 1,400 children were raped, trafficked and sexually exploited in the town between 1997 and 2013 by gangs of men of largely Pakistani heritage.

Following an intense four week re-inspection in November last year, Ofsted have today revealed the new rating.

Ian Thomas, strategic director of Children and Young People’s Services, told The Yorkshire Post he was proud of everyone involved, but it was important the authority was not complacent.

He said: “After what has happened, local people deserve a response from the council that they can be proud of. Rotherham is known for the wrong reasons internationally and we don’t want to be there again. We will always strive for continuous improvement, learning from the past.”

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In their report inspectors said the local authority has made “significant improvement”, including protecting those children at risk of sexual exploitation. The overall rating is ‘good’, with sub-judgement ratings of ‘good’ for children in need of help and protection; ‘good’ for leadership, management and governance; ‘good’ for adoption performance and ‘outstanding’ for the experience and progress of care leavers.

However, children looked after and achieving permanence was given a ‘requires improvement’ sub-rating and there are eight recommendations set down by Ofsted. Work will continue to improve in these areas as part of the next steps taken, the council said.

Inspectors said: “The local authority has taken a systematic and rigorous approach to improvement since the last Ofsted inspection in 2014 which identified widespread and serious failures for children in need of help and protection and children looked after. The quality and impact of services for children are transformed… The corporate response and associated change in the quality of children’s services has been impressive.” It adds: “Children at risk of child sexual exploitation are identified, and receive an effective multi-agency response to protect them.”