Children who receive care and support in Reading are not 'receiving consistently good' services according to a recent inspection.

Reading Borough Council has an obligation to provide services to children in need.

These services include children's care homes, providing support for children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) and conducting education health and care (EHC) plans to lay out how children with needs should be supported.

Since December 2018, children's services have been delegated to the arms-length company  Brighter Futures for Children (BFfC), with the council working collaboratively with the company.

The education regulator recently conducted an inspection of the children's services in the borough.

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Investigators judged that the impact of leaders on social work
practice with children and families, the experience and progress of children who need help and protection and the overall effectiveness of children's services all 'require improvement to be good'.

The inspection report states: "The inexperience of workers, combined with high caseloads in some teams, is contributing to a small number of children not having risks identified quickly enough.

"Management oversight and supervision in some teams are not effective, reflective or frequent enough and record-keeping is not of a consistently high quality."

Ofsted inspectors identified parts of the service which need to be improved, which includes identifying when children are at risk in a timely manner, particularly for those children who are outside a home setting, and improving staff development, training and support.

Children's services were rated 'good' in the areas of the experiences and progress of children in care, and the experience and progress of people once they leave care.

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The council has undertaken measures to make life easier for care leavers, which has included extending a council tax relief for care leavers from age 21 to age 24 in a policy introduced in October last year. This means those leaving care aged 18-20 do not have to pay council tax.

Councillors also unanimously agreed to treat people who leave care as having a protected characteristic.

The Ofsted inspection took place over two weeks from April 22 to May 3 this year, and was published on July 12.

Although Ofsted has conducted focused inspections over the last three years, the last full inspection was conducted in September 2019, with all the parameters being rated 'requires improvement to be good'.

Officials from BFfC have welcomed the latest report, pointing out areas where progress has been made. These include improvements in support to provide early help to families, supporting disabled children, and stabilising the workforce. 

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Di Smith, board chair at BFfC said: “The team at BFfC is fully committed and focused on securing further improvement in the areas highlighted by Ofsted and to ensuring the very best outcomes for the children and families of Reading."

Wendy Griffith (Labour, Battle), lead councillor for children added: “We obviously would have liked to see the new rating as Good across all areas, but we are all aware that it takes time to effect sustainable change, especially in a climate nationally where resources and the workforce have been stretched to capacity.  

“We want to see the very best for the children and young people we care for, which is why Reading Borough Council recognises care experience as a protected characteristic and why we exempt care leavers from paying full council tax under the age of 25.”