The report, published today, rated the experiences and progress of children in Waltham Forest’s care ‘outstanding’, but stated support for care leavers must improve, reports Marco Marcelline

Waltham Forest Council has received an overall “good” assessment from Ofsted for its provision of children’s services.
The report, published today (20th August) comes in the wake of an inspection between 1st and 12th July.
The Ofsted report, which rated the experiences and progress of children in care as “outstanding”, especially commended the “exceptional support” that such children receive from the council. This support was shown through “stable homes, strong relationships with social workers, and comprehensive care plans”, Ofsted said.
Ofsted also positively commented on the council’s “effective” strategic partnerships including family hubs, which it said has strengthened early help services, in turn “improving” outcomes for children and families.
Waltham Forest Children Service’s leaders were additionally complimented for demonstrating a “clear focus” on improving children’s services and their commitment to addressing service gaps.
However, the report also found that the council’s children’s service did not consistently make effective use of pre-proceedings meetings, which are offered to parents as a ‘last chance’ of co-operation before court action is taken. Some pre-proceedings lasted “too long”, Ofsted said, with this lack of “sufficient pace and attention” to interventions meaning that it was not always clear that the lives of affected children improved.
Ofsted also said that Waltham Forest did not consistently apply the Public Law Outline (PLO) process, which sets out the duties local authorities have when thinking about taking a case to court. This was particularly true in cases of child neglect, with the result being that some children remain on child protection plans for a long period of time “without positive change being achieved”.
Care leavers additionally experience delays in being connected with leaving care coaches, with pathway plans “not always adequately shared or accessible”, effectively hindering their understanding of rights and support.
The finding comes after the council recently committed to considering care leavers alongside other protected characteristics, a move which council leader Grace Williams says will allow young people to have “better opportunities to access employment and housing options helping to improve their lives”.
Reacting to the report, Cllr Williams said: “I am very pleased that Ofsted recognises the progress we are making in how we are working to support and care for our children. It’s a real testament to the hard work and dedication of our children service’s team, partners, and the whole council in supporting children and families in our borough.”
She continued: “We play the extremely important role of corporate parent for over 300 children. It’s a responsibility we all take very seriously, so I am particularly proud of the outstanding support children in our care receive. We will remain ambitious and aspirational for every child in our care, so that together we can achieve the outcomes that are right for them.”
In its last inspection in 2019, Ofsted found that Waltham Forest had “significantly improved” from its 2015 inspection, when the authority was “not yet delivering good protection, help and care for children, young people and families”. At the time, Ofsted ruled that every area of its service needed to improve.
Meanwhile, in May, Waltham Forest’s Youth Justice Service (YJS) was told it needs to improve.
His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Probation said the quality of work for offending children facing out-of-court disposals was “inconsistent and insufficient”, as was the frequency of home visits.
The council responded by implementing a series of changes to its YJS, which included a commitment to making home visits a standard practice and ensuring high-risk youth offender cases are visited once a month.
Read the full Ofsted inspection here
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