Bromley children’s services making “steady progress”

Bromley children’s services is making “steady progress” according to a recent Ofsted ‘monitoring visit’ as the local authority looks to make improvements after it was judged inadequate last year.

The report states: “The local authority is making steady progress in improving planning and achieving permanent arrangements for children and young people looked after. In the cases reviewed on this visit, no inadequate practice was found and some aspects of good practice were identified.”

The visit considered a range of evidence, including electronic case records, other supporting documentation and discussions with a range of staff, who included social workers and managers.

This was the fifth monitoring visit since its inadequate rating in June 2016 and the findings highlighted a number of areas of improvement. It found that the local authority “clearly identifies which children need plans for long-term fostering, and is making progress in identifying suitable placements or endorsing current arrangements.

“Assessments of family members as special guardians are increasingly timely and the quality of assessments is improving in depth and analysis. This is improving practice for children looked after in Bromley.”

However, it was also noted that some transition plans for children moving to their permanent homes are inconsistent and require improvement.

Councillor Peter Fortune, executive member for children and families, said: “We are delighted and extremely proud of what has been achieved so far in making improvements for the most vulnerable children in our society.

“Our new team which includes strengthened management and more permanent social workers have worked hard to deliver the council’s ‘roadmap to excellence’ and a lower caseload promise to allow time for quality social work to take place.”