Northamptonshire Children’s Trust improves from ‘inadequate’ to ‘good’ in 12 months, according to Ofsted

Northamptonshire Children’s Trust’s fostering agency branch has improved from ‘inadequate’ to ‘good’ in just 12 months, according to Ofsted.

This is the fostering agency’s third inspection since the trust’s registration in 2020 and the first time it has been rated anything higher than ‘requires improvement’.

The service is in charge of integrating children into homes across the county for both West Northamptonshire Council and North Northamptonshire Council. At the time of inspection, on January 15 – 19, 2024, there were 310 fostering households caring for 388 children.

The children’s services watchdog highlighted the agency’s effort to “better understand the quality of children’s lived experience” and to make care more “meaningful and child-centred”. It found that carers are provided with a wide range of training and a “wealth of experience” exists within the community.

“Overall, children are settled and make good progress. Many children remain with their foster carers for many years and into their adulthood,” it added.

In the Children’s Trust’s last full inspection in February 2023 “serious” and “widespread” failures were uncovered, ultimately resulting in an ‘inadequate’ rating for the service.

Safeguarding concerns were raised surrounding children’s complaints and concerns not being recognised and levels of staff and retention.

One area that has improved over the past year is the time children spend with their social workers. The report wrote that the collaboration between foster families and social workers is improving, leading to easier identification of what makes children vulnerable and referrals to relevant services.

There have also been “significant improvements” in how well foster carers are supported and supervised. Children are also supported to spend time with their families and their educational needs are met.

The effectiveness of leaders and managers within the organisation has been scrutinised, receiving a ‘requires improvement’ in the inspection.

It wrote: “Since the last inspection, the fostering agency has experienced some periods of challenge. There has been a need for change to happen at pace so that children’s safety and well-being needs are met.

“Senior managers are realistic that there is still much to do. However, they recognise that they need to prioritise some areas over others.

“There is a realistic plan from the fostering agency in terms of introducing change at a pace that brings the workforce along with them.”

The watchdog warned that in the future the training and development of foster carers should be regularly reviewed and revisited. It also said the agency should ensure that policies relating to children’s disability benefits, cultural hair care needs, DBS protocol, and surveillance should be implemented and used as part of day-to-day care practice.

Councillor Scott Edwards, cabinet member for children, families and education at NNC, said: “As the report states, there is still work to do, and as acknowledged in the findings, the members of the current senior leadership team have the capacity to achieve the remaining changes and developments. We will work openly and collaboratively with them to ensure this happens.”

Councillor Fiona Baker, cabinet member for children, families and education at WNC said: “I am pleased to hear there are much better relationships with our foster carers as they play a vital role in helping us to improve the lives and outcomes of our children and young people.”

Colin Foster, chief executive of Northamptonshire Children’s Trust said: “Our foster carers are critical to this and are an incredible asset, providing guidance, stability, support, and care to some of the most vulnerable children and young people.

“With a huge shortage of foster carers we would encourage anyone who has been considering fostering to get in touch with us.”