Children's Services in Redbridge are high quality; Ofsted confirms

An Ofsted inspection of Redbridge's Children's Services has found its front door services are high quality and have developed further since being rated as Outstanding by Ofsted in 2019, despite the enormous challenges the COVID-19 pandemic presented over the past two years.

 In 2019, inspectors described front door services as 'outstanding' and a model of efficiency and excellence'. Those services included screening and assessment, the emergency duty team and the early help triage team. Since then, senior managers have developed services, including the domestic abuse Reach Out service and single contact points for contextual safeguarding and children's mental health.

 The focused visit on 27 and 28 April confirmed that services continue to be high-quality, an impressive achievement given the pressures of the last two years due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

 Some of the key findings from the visit are listed below:

• The response to contacts and referrals at the front door is highly effective
• Contacts are responded to promptly by screening officers, who check the information and update children's records
• Managerial oversight is a significant strength
• Managers immediately review information coming in about children, set timescales for responding and provide clear direction about what actions need to take place
• Consistent application of the local authority's multi-agency threshold document ensures that children and families who need help are promptly identified and supported through the Families Together Hub (FTH) and the wide range of coordinated early intervention services available in Redbridge
• Once professionals identify concerns about domestic abuse, the response is very strong. Dedicated workers based at the front door carry out further work whenever there is a contact which raises concerns of this nature. 
• Inspectors saw exceptional work from the Reach Out service, which was established during the three COVID-19 lockdowns to help families affected by domestic abuse

 Cllr Mark Santos, Cabinet Member for Children and Young People, said: "During the pandemic, we pledged that we would do everything we could to protect the most vulnerable members of our communities. These recent findings from Ofsted show we did precisely that, despite the enormous pressures we faced during that period. That is a testament to the sheer hard work and professionalism of our staff, who have stopped at nothing to continue delivering an outstanding service. 

 "Our skilled, talented, and committed colleagues have not compromised in terms of the support they provide. A range of services also pitched in to support when required. Our staff should all be immensely proud of their achievement. I certainly am." 

"Cllr Jas Athwal, Leader of Redbridge Council, said: "Our Children's Services team work tirelessly to ensure our children get the best possible start in life, and they deserve a great deal of credit for ensuring some of our most vulnerable children and young people continued to receive outstanding support throughout the pandemic. I'm very proud of what they have achieved."

 Please read the full report.