Update due on latest Ofsted inspection into children's services in Northamptonshire

The last Ofsted inspection of children’s services during February and March 2016 found that while in the preceding three years services had improved and were no longer 'inadequate', the leadership, management and governance continued to require improvement to be classed as good.

Inspectors carried out a focused visit to Northamptonshire children's services on April 24 and members of Northamptonshire County Council’s children, families and communities scrutiny committee will receive an update on the findings from director of children’s services Lesley Hagger on Wednesday morning.

In a letter sent to Mrs Hagger, from inspector Dawn Godfrey, praise was given to the work going on to ‘change the culture of social work’ in the county.

But it is also expected to highlight that child assessments are ‘not yet consistently good enough’, and that this means that ‘children and families do not always receive the right support at the right time’ - while also highlighting high caseloads and the frequency of supervision for social workers.