Reading’s children’s services has made significant progress with improvements still needed

Overall effectiveness	Requires Improvement to be Good
The experiences and progress of children who need help and protection	Requires Improvement to be Good
The experiences and progress of children in care	Good
The experiences and progress of care leavers	Good
The impact of leaders on social work practice with children and families	Requires Improvement to be Good

Reading’s children’s services company has made ‘significant progress in some areas since the last inspection’ with further improvements required according to the latest Ofsted report. 

Ofsted judged two areas of children’s services in Reading as Good and two as Requires Improvement, giving an overall effectiveness rating of Requires Improvement to be Good for the borough. 

The inspection, over a three-week period from 15 April to 3 May, took place under the Inspecting Local Authority Children’s Services (ILACS) framework conducted by Ofsted inspectors. 

Inspectors praised Brighter Futures for Children, which delivers children’s services on behalf of Reading Borough Council, for a number of improvements across its services since its last inspection in 2019, where all judged areas were Requires Improvement to be Good.  

Ofsted acknowledged that a transformation plan, focused on the right areas, was already in place and progress was under way. 

The report said: “Senior leaders have a shared understanding of the priorities and improvements needed, and significant progress has been made in some areas since the last inspection, such as for early help, disabled children, children in care and care leavers. Leaders have also been successful in recruitment and in stabilising the workforce.” 

The report also noted that children and families living in Reading are not currently receiving consistently good services. The six areas identified were: 

• The quality of assessment, planning and provision for children in need, 16- and 17-year-olds who are homeless and children living in private fostering arrangements  

• The timely identification of risk for children  

• The workforce development, training and support offer to attract and retain staff 

• The timely assessment of and support for connected carers, kinship carers and special guardians  

• The development and embedding of the response to children at risk of harm outside the home  

• The timely publication of the local offer for care leavers and the implementation of the delayed measures to improve corporate parenting for care-experienced young people. 

Di Smith, Brighter Futures for Children’s Board Chair, said: “We welcome the findings from the recent Ofsted inspection. It is encouraging that Ofsted has identified areas of significant improvement since the last inspection. But we fully recognise that the report shows there is still much more to do to ensure children’s services are consistently good across every area. 

“The team at Brighter Futures for Children 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. 

“Our staff are our greatest asset and Ofsted has recognised the leadership of our stable senior team and our success in recruitment and stabilisation of the workforce. They also acknowledged that our transformation programme is focussed on the right priorities. These are important foundations on which we will continue to build further progress and improvement.” 

Reading Borough Council’s Lead Member for Children, Cllr Wendy Griffith, said: “The report clearly identifies areas which need to be addressed while recognising the strides that have been made by Brighter Futures for Children to improve support and protection for some of the most vulnerable young people and families in the borough. 

“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.  

“The Council will continue to support and challenge Brighter Futures for Children on progress and to play our part as joint corporate parents too. 

“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.” 

Inspectors found a range of positives during the inspection, including: 

• Range of impressive & impactful family help services 

• Robust arrangements for children who go missing 

• Most children in care live in stable, nurturing and caring homes where their needs are well met and they flourish 

• Highly ambitious for children in care and care leavers 

• Developed and improved advocacy and engagement activities 

• Adoption is a strength 

• There is real focus and intention to keep children living locally 

• Senior leaders have a shared understanding of the priorities & improvements needed. 

The full report can be seen on Ofsted’s website.

NOTE TO EDITORS: 

For further media enquiries please email communications@brighterfuturesforchildren.org 

To find out more about Brighter Futures for Children and the services it delivers, please visit www.brighterfuturesforchildren.org