Camden earns top Ofsted rating for children’s services

Ofsted has awarded Camden’s children’s services the highest possible rating, after inspectors judged its social care system to have grown “even stronger”.

Following a visit from the regulator in early March, the borough has been marked ‘outstanding’, building on 2022’s inspection which had identified some room for improvement – though services were then also rated outstanding overall.

Now, Ofsted has found earlier weaknesses have become “areas of strength”, with the top rating awarded for all five categories.

Inspector Claire Beckingham found that Camden’s “prompt and skilfully-delivered early help” had visibly improved children’s circumstances in the borough, and in many cases prevented the need for statutory intervention.

Decision-making around referrals to the council’s multi-agency safeguarding hub (MASH) was “timely” and had consistently led to the right level of intervention, she reported.

Social workers were also “skilled and confident”, and have been supported by strong managerial oversight.

“Almost all children receive swift and decisive help to meet their needs and safeguard their welfare,” the report added.

The inspector found one area for improvement: for a small number of Camden’s children, staff decision-making and the impact of escalation and oversight could be more timely in cases where plans were “not progressing within identified timescales”.

However, overall she judged that children benefitted from “strong, lasting relationships with their social workers”.

Careful casework management had given these staff more time for “creative direct work”, enabling them to “really get to know children and elicit their views”.

The report also found that children’s voices and opinions were “valued and given weight”, and that the complex needs of disabled children were understood “very well”.

“Visits to children and their families are purposeful, with care taken to address concerns and to promote positive relationships”.

Camden was also lauded for its support for the borough’s care leavers.

The inspector noted the strong educational achievement of those moving on from care, and praised leaders’ “deep understanding” of the holistic needs of young people.

Cabinet member for best start for children and families, Cllr Marcus Boyland, said: “In Camden, we have long recognised the power of early intervention and prevention to keep families together and reduce the need for children to enter care.

“This Ofsted rating validates our hard work in caring for and protecting children. A huge congratulations to all the team,” he said.

“We will continue to work diligently, day and night, to maintain and further improve our outstanding children’s services, ensuring that children and young people are at the heart of everything we do.”