COUNCILLORS have noted action being taken to improve a local authority's under-fire children's services provision.

Darlington Borough Council's children's services department was given a rating of 'inadequate' following an inspection by the education watchdog Ofsted earlier this year.

The inspection took place in June and July and a damning Ofsted report – highlighting a series of failings in the performance of children's services – was published in September.

Since then, an 'improvement partner' – London-based consultants Red Quadrant, which specialises in 'public service transformation' – has been appointed to work with the council.

Red Quadrant's services are being paid for by the Department for Education (DfE), The Northern Echo understands.

A report was prepared for members of the council's cabinet ahead of a meeting on Tuesday (December 8) afternoon.

Members were asked to formally receive the content of the Ofsted report and note its content, as well as those actions already taken to improve performance.

A new director of adults and children's services, Suzanne Joyner, is due to take up her post next week.

The report to members said the new director will 'provide additional leadership support to the management team for children’s services'.

It also stated that Red Quadrant is 'satisfied' with progress to date on the improvement plan being developed in conjunction with town hall officials.

Councillors opted not to discuss in detail the report to cabinet, which stated: "The [Ofsted] inspection reported a number of strengths, including areas where services were judged to be good.

"However the overall judgement for children’s services was judged to be inadequate due to the failures identified in terms of services to children in need of protection and in respect of leadership, management and governance.

"Working with Red Quadrant an improvement plan has been developed, which will shortly be sent to DfE for sign-off.

"Robust progress is also being made on key priorities in the improvement plan."

Priorities for what the council report called an 'improvement journey' over the coming 12 months include:

  • Strengthening management capacity;
  • Putting in place a robust data reporting system with clear improvement targets to given an accurate picture of performance;
  • Providing training to equip staff with practice and supervisory skills;
  • Develop a staff recruitment and retention strategy.