Children's services in Moray well on track, say Care Inspectorate

The Care Inspectorate has released its follow-up report on their joint inspection of children’s services in Moray, and it shows a greatly improved picture.

Inspectors conclude that partners, managers and staff have been working hard to make changes to their processes and ways of working that they believe will lead to improving lives of children, and that no further inspections are planned.

In their original inspection two years ago inspectors found that young people in the Moray Community Planning Partnership (CPP) area were exposed to risk for too long before decisive action was taken. Their report also highlighted the lack of joined-up working between agencies responsible for the care and protection of vulnerable children in Moray.

Chair of the multi-agency Chief Officer’s Group that has been leading the improvements to children’s services and Director of Public Health for NHS Grampian, Susan Webb, welcomed the report.

Praising the work of the teams, managers and senior officers, she said: “It is gratifying that the inspectors have acknowledged the commitment and hard work everyone has put in to bring about a sea-change in the way Moray Council, Police Scotland, NHS Grampian and other agencies work together for vulnerable children.

“It has been an intense period of activity, but it’s clear to inspectors that we are well on the way to achieving our aspirations for all the vulnerable children and young people in Moray.

“There’s much still to be done, but these last two years have provided a solid foundation upon which together we can create a child-centred culture in the area.”

The Care Inspectorate detailed a six-point action plan in the report to help the CPP to maintain the momentum of its improvement programme, which included paying attention to quality assurance and consistency in operational practice, and to include parents more in service delivery.

A copy of the follow-up report is available on the Care Inspectorate’s website here