More children receiving the right care at the right time

Services for Bury’s most vulnerable young people are continuing to improve, says the official watchdog Ofsted.

Inspectors visited in autumn and have concluded that Bury is making progress in ensuring that children are being helped and protected at the earliest opportunity.

They looked at specific areas of practice: from early help to referrals, child protection investigations, child in need assessments, the management of allegations of abuse against adults who work with children, and how concerns are handled outside office hours.

The inspectors’ report says: “More children now receive the right help at the right time. The improvement plan continues to focus on getting the basics right and seeks to deliver sustainable and improved outcomes for children. Continued political support and ongoing financial investment are supporting improvements in practice.”

They also cited a new approach to recruitment which is attracting more social workers into Bury, and stronger and more consistent management.

The report says:

• Children who are referred to early help services or stepped down from the MASH have the right thresholds of need applied, which is supporting children to gain the right help at the right time.

• Urgent safeguarding concerns are consistently responded to without delay.

• When children are deemed to be at risk of significant harm, the response is now swift and effective.

• There have been improvements in the timeliness and quality of children and family assessments since the last inspection.

• The timeliness of initial child protection conferences has improved.

• The emergency duty team provides an effective service out of hours.

• Allegations against professionals are swiftly and robustly managed.

Councillor Lucy Smith, cabinet member for children and young people, said: “Keeping our young people safe is among the very top priorities for this council.

“We have made a number of significant improvements to our services in recent years, and we are pleased that Ofsted has recognised the progress we have made.”

ENDS

Press release issued: 2 December 2024.