Councils selected for national children’s social care improvement programme

Durham County Council, Luton Council and the London Borough of Newham have been selected to take on national improvement roles through the Department for Education’s (DfE) Children’s Social Care Improvement Teams (CIT) programme.

The programme draws on the principle that local authorities are best placed to support one another through shared expertise, proven practice and peer-led improvement. Selected authorities will provide practical support to councils seeking to improve the quality and effectiveness of their children’s social care services.

Durham County Council, which was rated Outstanding for children’s services by Ofsted in 2025, is one of six authorities selected as part of the second wave of the programme.

Cllr Cathy Hunt, Durham County Council’s Cabinet member for children and young people’s services, said: "We are absolutely delighted to have been selected to lead the way in supporting the development of children's social care around the country through the CIT programme. In County Durham, we take pride in treating every child as part of the Durham Family, ensuring their individual needs are met, they are listened to, and they are supported with opportunities that allow them to grow and thrive."

The council said its role will include providing intensive support to local authorities that have been judged inadequate by Ofsted and require intervention or targeted improvement support. The work will focus on addressing the causes of underperformance, strengthening leadership and governance, improving practice quality and securing sustainable improvement for children and families.

The emphasis of the CIT programme is intended to be on practical support rather than advice and guidance alone, with participating authorities drawing on their own experience of delivering improvement and reform.

"To be selected for this programme is fantastic national recognition of the high quality of our children's social care services," Hunt said. "We are looking forward to supporting colleagues in other local authority areas by sharing our best practices and expertise and, ultimately, improving outcomes for children not just in County Durham but UK-wide."

Luton’s Children’s Services has also been selected by the DfE, giving the council a national role in supporting other local authorities to improve their children’s social care services.

The selection follows a period of significant improvement in Luton’s services, with the council joining the CIT programme as one of a small number of authorities chosen to provide support to others.

Newham’s Children and Young People service has likewise been selected to take part in the programme. In a LinkedIn post, the council said the programme was aimed at "driving improvement and delivering the reform vision across Children’s Social Care to improve outcomes for children and families".

Newham said its selection reflected the strength of its leadership, practice model and capacity to support other authorities nationally, describing its inclusion among "only a handful of local authorities" as recognition of the service’s work.

The CIT programme forms part of the wider model for improving children’s social care, alongside other forms of Department for Education support and intervention. Its wider purpose is to enable stronger-performing local authorities to share expertise with councils facing challenges, while building capacity for improvement within the sector.