Richmond Council's Children's Service has been praised by the government in a report by the Commission for Social Care Inspection (CSCI), presented to cabinet on Tuesday 9 November by Janis Lloyd.

The report was based on an inspection of the service carried out between 11 and 21 May 2004 and commends the local authority for a much-improved service.

In the report the inspector noted there had been considerable improvements to children's and families services since the last inspection in 2000. She went on to say Richmond was beginning to be a forward-looking borough where there was good attention to child protection issues and some good examples of partnership working.

The report also identified areas for improvement. In particular there needed to be greater consultation with parents and children and the authority needed to do more to recruit and keep the best staff.

Overall the assessment of the service was that that it was a good service that was serving most people well and had promising prospects for further improvement.

Commenting on the report Cllr Jane Boulton, cabinet member for Social Services and Housing on Richmond Council said: "I am delighted with this report, it provides strong evidence that we are moving in the right direction and improving all the time. It is particularly pleasing to see that the inspector has noted considerable improvement since the last time we were inspected four years ago.

"This is a huge credit to the professionalism and dedication of the entire children and families staff group. I would like to thank them for their continued hard work.

"It is also a credit to my predecessor Jean Matthews whose hand we can see in this result.

"We can not however be complacent. The report points to areas where we still need to develop. We have done much good work but there is more to do."

Leader of the council Tony Arbour added: "Great news, another step on the road to being excellent and most important, thank you to the staff who have worked so hard to improve the service."

Director of Social Services and Housing, Jeff Jerome commented: "This very positive assessment of the quality of our social services to Richmond children and their families is very encouraging. It ranks amongst the best results in such inspections over the past year at a time when children's services, especially in London are under severe pressure.

"It is a tribute to the excellence and hard work of our existing staff and our improved financial and performance management. We intend, and fully expect, to continue to improve, and the recruitment and retention of good committed staff will be crucial if we are to consolidate our position."

See the full CSCI report

Wednesday, November 10, 2004

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