Official watchdog Ofsted has published a report today (Monday 22 June) which said: “Children’s services in Brighton and Hove require improvement to be good.
“There are no widespread or serious failures that create or leave children being harmed or at risk of harm.
“However, the authority (Brighton and Hove City Council) is not yet delivering good protection and help for children, young people and families.”
To read the report, click here.
Ofsted said: “Brighton and Hove City Council has made a lot of progress since its last inspection but some things still need to be improved.
“When children are at risk of harm, social workers recognise it and quickly take all the correct actions to protect them.
“Managers need to become quicker at organising the meetings where it is decided whether a child needs to have a child protection plan.
“Social workers, police and other professionals in the city work well together to know which young people are at risk of being sexually exploited.
“If a young person is being exploited, they take the right actions to protect them.
“The council needs to improve the way it helps families to continue with the changes they have made after their children’s child protection plans end.
“The managers of social workers need to improve their oversight to ensure that children’s plans are making a positive difference.
“Social workers who inspectors talked to know the children they work with well and could show inspectors the work they had done with them.
“Social workers are good at quickly finding new families for children who need to be adopted. They are also good at explaining adoption to children and making sure they understand why they can’t stay with their birth family.
“Children who are disabled have social workers who understand their needs and are good at assessing with them what services will help them and their families best.
“Children in care in Brighton and Hove do well at school and achieve good results in their tests. They do not get excluded very often and their attendance is good. Social workers support them to attend regularly if they find that difficult.
“The council needs to recruit more foster carers in Brighton and Hove, especially for young people who have many difficulties.
