Council’s dedicated social workers “show compassion and sensitivity” supporting children and families

A combination of strong leadership, effective early help and outstanding support for care leavers to improve children’s lives across the city has been praised by Ofsted inspectors at a recent focused visit to Salford City Council children’s services. 

Inspectors reviewed the arrangements for children in need or subject to a child protection plan with a focus on neglect and children subject to pre-proceedings under the Public Law Outline (PLO). This visit was carried out in line with the inspection of local authority children’s services (ILACS) framework.

The inspection found that children and their families in Salford have “access to a broad and varied range of resources”, which ensures that “children’s needs are met at the right time and at the right level” and provides a “positive impact on improving the lives of children in Salford”.

Ofsted highlighted that:

• A dedicated focus on recruitment and retention has strengthened the development of a stable and experienced social work workforce.
• A well-structured quality assurance framework provides leaders with an accurate understanding of the quality and impact of social work practice.
• Leaders know where practice is strong and areas where it could be further improved to best support children and their families.
• Targeted work around the PLO means that leaders have strong oversight of this work and the progress for children is closely monitored.
• Prompt action is taken to ensure that children’s needs are swiftly met.
• Multi-agency working is strong and an ongoing focus on neglect across the partnership means professionals have an improved understanding of the signs and symptoms of neglect, and they respond appropriately.

With a ‘relentless focus’ on making improvements and placing children at the centre of service delivery, the council’s children’s services team is a vital lifeline for children and young people in the city, offering help and support to give them the best chance of succeeding in life by connecting with communities and adopting an uncompromising attitude to standards.

Inspectors spoke with social workers who talked warmly about the children they work with and of Salford’s “inclusive and collaborative culture, supportive managers and leaders, accessible training, manageable caseloads, flexible working and positive work-life balance encourage them to continue working in the local authority”.

Councillor Jim Cammell, Lead Member for Children’s and Young People’s Services at Salford City Council, said: 

“This is a well-deserved achievement for Salford and I’m really proud of the council’s children’s services team. We are very privileged to have dedicated and committed social workers and managers who provide stability and hope for children and young people who have helped to ensure such a positive outcome from Ofsted.

“Social workers often don’t get the praise they deserve, and I want to recognise the valuable work that they do, and also the teams who support them. The findings of this visit show the positive difference they make to children’s lives and how hard our children’s services team work to ensure we safeguard children, support families, and improve overall outcomes for children and young people in our city.”

“The outcome of this visit is testament to our workforce and shows that we’ve created a positive working environment across the service. We’ve worked hard to reduce the number of social workers on agency contracts to permanent council staff and now have one of the lowest rates and reliance on agency workers in the country. As a result, children and young people are benefiting from our approach to ensure that they are safe, supported and have the best possible start in life.”

In 2024, the council’s children’s services was rated 'Good' overall by Ofsted inspectors, and in a number of areas received ‘Outstanding’ ratings.