Children's services given 'outstanding' rating

A senior official has praised the tenacity of staff who have helped transform a struggling council department into one of the "best performing in the country".

Sara Tough, executive director of children's services at Norfolk County Council, said the hard work and long-term commitment of workers was reflected in a recent Ofsted report.

Inspectors praised the council's "child-centred" approach and "inspirational strategic and operational leadership" - and awarded it an "outstanding" rating in all areas.

It marks a significant shift after more than a decade of work to improve the department, which was previously rated "inadequate" in 2015 and "requiring improvement" in 2017.

The department covers a wide range of duties, including child safeguarding, looking after children in care and social services.

Tough took over her role in 2017 following several years of what she called "inadequate judgement" and a "considerable degree of instability".

Since then, the service has improved significantly, gaining a "good" rating in 2022 - but now the council says it is one of the best performing in the country, ranked in the top 2%.

Tough said: "There's a real tenacity and a relentless desire to improve and improve outcomes for children and young people.

"We have become more integrated, which means we've joined up our services in such a way that it avoids children falling as much as possible through the gaps.

"We are highly ambitious, deeply reflective, happy to seek external challenge and all of that is possible because I have a group of leaders and managers who share in that aspiration and are nothing but committed to improving outcomes for children."

The children's services department is one of the biggest costs for County Hall, with £387m allocated for non-school duties at this year's budget.

Tough said her department has faced financial challenges due to tight funding but her team has managed to find more than £200m in savings in the past eight years.

Kay Mason Billig, the outgoing Conservative leader of Norfolk County Council, said: "This has come about due to the determination of our staff who have been working as a team, alongside our partners and key stakeholders.

"This has not been easy, with the increasing demand on services and the ever-constrained budgets, however we recognise that the children of our county deserve the very best and we have delivered that."

But while Ofsted has praised the department's work, Tough acknowledged there was still room for improvement and Ofsted highlighted support for young carers as an area that could be looked at.

Kirsty Pitcher, chief executive officer of Benjamin Foundation, a children's charity in Norfolk, agreed more could be done to detect young carers in need.

She said: "It can be a positive experience to care for someone you love but it can become excessive and impact someone's childhood, education and career opportunities."

She added the number of young carers are often under-reported, with latest estimates putting the figure at 18,000 in Norfolk and one in five secondary pupils nationally.

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