'Historic moment' for Haringey as children’s services rated ‘outstanding’

Haringey Council’s children’s services has been given an ‘outstanding’ judgement by Ofsted for the first time.

The latest rating has been described by the authority as marking “an historic moment” in its “journey to improve outcomes for children and young people”.

It comes as a major boost for the London borough which suffered negative headlines following the deaths of Victoria Climbié in 2000 and Peter Connelly in 2007.

By 2009 the authority’s children’s services was rated among the worst in the country and remained in special measures until 2013.

Inspectors assessed five areas, with three of the five rated as outstanding and two as good.

As well as overall effectiveness, areas declared outstanding were the impact of leaders on social work practice and the experiences and progress of care leavers.

The report said: “Strong and stable strategic direction is underpinned by a clear and shared commitment from leaders to improving outcomes for children and families.

“Sustained transformation, focused on early intervention, prevention and strong social work practice, has supported children to remain within their family networks and reduced the number who enter care.”

Inspectors praised leaders for “responding ambitiously and creatively to budget pressures and constraints in partner capacity”.

Leaders also won praise so for establishing “evidence-informed learning cultures that support consistently good or outstanding practice across all services”.

Areas of excellence highlighted by inspectors included:

• Strong and skilled social workers who “benefit from training and guidance and feel supported and valued, enabling them to maintain a strong focus on children’s experiences”
• Effective and comprehensive early help services, which “is helping to provide easy access and timely support to children and their families”
• Exceptional care leaver support from “highly skilled, experienced and committed practitioners”
• Robust safeguarding arrangements, including a “highly effective” multi-agency safeguarding hub (MASH)
• Strong and strategic leadership which supports “consistently good or outstanding practice across all services” and political leaders who are “highly supportive and have prioritised children’s social care despite significant financial pressures”

Haringey received a ‘good’ rating from Ofsted for the first time in 2023.

Ann Graham, who was appointed as Haringey Council’s corporate director of children’s services in 2018, said: “This result is the outcome of years of sustained improvement, dedication of our staff, and genuine partnership across our communities. Most importantly, it reflects the trust placed in us by children and families, and their valued contribution in shaping our services.”

Social workers also won praise for relationships developed with children leaving care.

The report said: “Care leavers have established relationships with their workers, who are ambitious for them and proactive. There is a clear focus on timely, child-centred and family-led practice.”

The only area singled out as in need of improvement was ‘the timeliness of initial safety planning for a small number of disabled children when a risk of harm is suspected’.

Haringey council leader Cllr Peray Ahmet added: “This outstanding judgement represents a major moment and tremendous achievement for Haringey. It demonstrates the borough’s progress and reaffirms the choices we have made to invest in services for children, young people and families.”