West and North Northants council bosses meet for urgent talks with county Children’s Trust after 'inadequate' Ofsted report

Leaders of North and West Northamptonshire Councils met urgently last night with the county’s Children’s Trust to discuss the ‘inadequate’ Ofsted fostering inspection report issued earlier this week.

Northamptonshire Children's Trust Fostering Agency, the trust managing the county’s fostering service, was graded inadequate in all areas – the lowest grade possible.

Attended by councils’ leaders, cabinet members, chief executives, directors and senior staff, and also by the Children’s Trust’s chairman, chief executive and senior team, the ‘constructive but challenging’ meeting discussed the findings of the report.

In the joint meeting Cllr Jason Smithers (Cons), leader of North Northamptonshire Council (NNC) and Cllr Jonathan Nunn (Cons), leader of West Northamptonshire Council (WNC) both raised ‘detailed issues’ within the report and ‘sought assurances’ that action was being taken to address critical findings.

Cllr Smithers said: “We’ve had a frank and tough discussion with the Children’s Trust, because it’s essential that we urgently work together to improve the standard of the Fostering Service. I’m grateful to the trust for quickly fielding their top team to show their commitment to discussing and acting on this most important report, and for showing us the actions already underway since the report was published to put this service right.”

Cllr Nunn said: “We can’t overstate the importance that we’re attaching to addressing this crucial report, and the need to address the shortcomings identified. Whilst Ofsted has recently acknowledged overall improvement across the services provided by the Children’s Trust, fostering is the weak point that must urgently be improved. Both our councils are committed to working with the trust and the Department for Education to help improve the situation, and to take all necessary action at pace.”

The meeting examined the existing action plans for the fostering service and heard that reviews and updates were already in place. Promises have been made that the ‘urgently upgraded’ actions will be ‘quickly implemented’ and ‘robustly monitored and overseen’.

Ofsted will revisit the service in April.

Julian Wooster, chairman of Northamptonshire Children’s Trust, said: “We had a constructive meeting with colleagues in West and North Northants Council to discuss the outcome of the recent inspection of our Independent Fostering Agency. We mustn’t lose sight of the improvements that Ofsted have already recognised in our full inspection which shows that we are on the right trajectory.

"Our focus now is to work collaboratively to ensure that our fostering service follows the same path and we welcome the commitment from both councils as well as the Department for Education to support and enable these improvements to be made.”

A spokesman for both NNC and WNC added: “The councils have been reassured by the trust that immediate action has been taken to ensure all children in its care are safe.

"Following this urgent meeting the councils feel more assured that the commitment of senior leaders in the trust is to improve the service and ensure children’s needs are met and foster carers are fully supported.”

Earlier today Labour opposition councillors had said they were 'deeply troubled' by the inadequate Ofsted grade for Northamptonshire Children's Trust Fostering Agency saying the trust failed to ‘protect its children'.