OFSTED praised a council-run children's services department in a recent report saying its social workers are "knowledgeable, confident and child-centred".

Focusing on children in care, Ofsted visited Hampshire Children's Service on January 31 and February 1. 

Its report, published on March 7, said that Hampshire County Council's child and family social workers are "knowledgeable, confident and child-centred" and ensure that children have a meaningful voice in decisions about their care.

In 2019, Ofsted rated the service as outstanding in all areas of children’s social care. Since then children's services has strived to improve and build on their effective practice.

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Currently, the local authority is caring for 1,827 children.

Cllr Edward Heron, executive lead member for children’s services, said: “The continued high performance of the service simply wouldn’t be possible without the skill and professionalism of our exceptional social workers.

"It is rewarding to see their excellence recognised by Ofsted and, in particular, the strengths of their child-centred approach, which ensures that children are rightly placed at the heart of decision-making.

“I want to thank everyone involved in coordinating Ofsted’s latest visit, and indeed all of our staff who work extremely hard day in, day out to ensure that Hampshire’s vulnerable children and young people continue to receive the right care at the right time, remaining safely at home with their families wherever possible.”

Ofsted shared their findings that social workers ‘advocate effectively’ for children and establish strong and meaningful relationships.

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This in turn ensures that children’s care is guided by insight into their wishes and views.

Social workers were also found to speak effusively about their pride in working for the County Council and to appreciate its employment offer.

Ofsted highlighted the work that children’s services have undertaken to increase social work and placement capacity, in response to growing pressures in children’s social care nationally.

A few areas were noted for improvement but one related to the timeliness of initial and review health assessments for children. 

Read the report here.