Ofsted to inspect children's services at Peterborough City Council next week

Ofsted will begin a week-long inspection of Peterborough City Council’s (PCC) children’s services on Monday, 27th November.

The regulators will undertake a thorough examination of the authority’s social care provision for young people, as well as arrangements for care leavers.

The inspection is due to finish on Friday, 8th December, with a report on inspectors’ findings expected by the council in January.

It can then take up to two months for Ofsted reports – and gradings – to be shared with the public.

PCC children’s services were most recently subject to a full inspection in June 2018, after which they were graded ‘Good’.

But already PCC councillors have raised concerns over the current state of the provision in the city.

'Highly likely that the whole of children's services will need improvement', councillor says

At the council’s most recent children’s and education scrutiny committee, Cllr Samantha Hemraj (Labour, East) said that it’s “highly likely that the whole of children’s services will need improvement”, while Cllr Katy Cole (Labour, Dogsthorpe) asked what would happen if the impending Ofsted inspection went “the same way as [MASH] did”.

Ofsted undertook a short, focused inspection of PCC’s multi-agency safeguarding hub, or MASH, in March this year, with its subsequent report finding that this was not “effectively promoting the protection of children” and that some were being “left in situations of potential risk for too long”.

PCC was subsequently issued with an improvement notice by the Department of Education (DofE), leading to increased oversight of the MASH by an independently-chaired improvement board.

It drew up an improvement plan for this element of children’s services and also appointed a new executive to oversee them, John Gregg, who joined the council in June this year.

Mr Gregg, a former Ofsted inspector himself, has previously told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) that he is striving to make Peterborough a “truly child-friendly city”, but admitted that “more and more people are needing more and more help at a time when there's less and less money”.

Financial statements have since revealed that a single child’s care plan could cost the council £2.6m this year, while children’s services more generally make up £4.2m of its forecasted £6.4m overspend in 2023/4.

Councils across the country are facing significant challenges around children’s services as the number of children with complex needs requiring care increases in response to the pandemic among other factors.

Confirming the upcoming full Ofsted inspection, a PCC spokesperson said: "We can confirm that Ofsted will be carrying out a standard inspection of Children's Services from Monday 27 November.

"Inspectors will arrive on site on Monday 27 November until Friday 8 December. We expect to receive the final report by the end of January 2024."