Children’s trust continues turnaround with ‘Good’ Ofsted rating

Children’s services in Birmingham have been rated ‘Good’ by Ofsted, highlighting a marked turnaround after decades of poor performance.

Children’s social care services in Birmingham had been graded ‘Inadequate’ by Ofsted since 2010 and had been failing for longer.

Government intervention, along with the appointment of a series of commissioners, meant that Birmingham City Council took the decision to deliver its social care services through a Trust in January 2017.

In 2018, Birmingham Children’s Trust was set up with the intention to create the conditions that enable good social work and family support to flourish.

Through 2017 and early 2018 monitoring reports found continued and steady progress, and a full Ofsted inspection saw children’s services upgraded from ‘Inadequate’ to ‘Requires Improvement’.

However, following an inspection in 2023, all five areas were given a ‘Good’ grading, with many positive highlights focusing on areas including the quality of staff leadership, partnership working, safeguarding and corporate parenting.

“Since the last inspection in 2018, much progress has been made by Birmingham City Council and Birmingham Children’s Trust in improving the experiences and outcomes of their children,” inspectors said in the report. “Children are now safeguarded through effective ‘front door’ arrangements, thorough child protection assessments and a strong response to safeguarding children at risk of exploitation.”

Andrew Christie, Chair of Birmingham Children Trust, said he was delighted by the findings.

“Today’s Ofsted report confirms the progress we have made, and the quality of practice provided by our fantastic team. We know there is more to do, but the improvements are evident.

“We have worked incredibly hard to ensure that partnership working with Birmingham City Council, statutory and non-statutory partners has become one of our strengths, and i am so pleased that Ofsted acknowledge this as a major improvement.”

Social work practice with children and families was praised by inspectors in the face of difficult challenges, such as increasing demand – as numbers of children coming into care rise nationally – the pandemic, and further financial pressures.

Inspectors praised the Trust’s partnership working with the council and other key stakeholders, highlighting the implementation of an effective early help strategy and responses to exploitation through the EMPOWERU contextual safeguarding hub.

Jenny Turnross, Director of Practice at Birmingham Children's Trust, took to Twitter to thank everyone involved in the journey to ‘Good’.

“I am so proud of @Bhamchildtrust colleagues, of our children and young people, Birmingham City Council and our partners. We are good !!!!! But there is always more to do. “

Councillor Brigid Jones, Deputy Leader of Birmingham City Council, welcomed the “historic” news and praised the “devotion and dedication” of staff.

“The city of Birmingham faces challenges on a bigger scale than most, supporting some of the country’s most vulnerable children, young people and families. This has been a long journey with a tremendous amount of work from so many people and it is an historic moment seeing their efforts recognised.”