Ofsted praise for Wandsworth’s child protection practices

Published: Wednesday, January 24, 2024

Wandsworth Council has been praised for its efforts to protect children and support families following a recent inspection from Ofsted. The mature and ‘purposeful’ relationships with community partners, ‘dedicated and caring’ workers, as well as a well-developed social work practice were highlighted as reasons why young people’s safety needs are being met in the borough. 

Share this

Inspectors looked at the borough’s 'front door' arrangements for children at risk, its emergency responses to other child safety and well-being concerns and its support for teenagers who have become homeless.

The Ofsted report praised the decision-making processes in the relevant teams and the speed and proportionality with which action was taken in response to child safety, saying: “Children receive help that is proportionate, timely and reflective of their presenting needs and the level of risk.”

The inspectors concluded: “Overall, decision-making and the response to contacts and referrals at the front door are strong. information shared between professionals is clear and accurate, supporting a good understanding of need, risk and children’s lived experiences and progress.”

The report adds: “Children’s immediate safety needs are well articulated and addressed, resulting in effective and appropriately focused planning. This means prompt action is taken to safeguard children and to meet their immediate wider well-being needs.”

“The provision for 16 and 17-year-old children who present as homeless or are potentially homeless is stronger than found at the last inspection. Dedicated and caring workers listen to children. Assessments are generally stronger, with children’s needs and risks assessed carefully and quickly, beyond the presenting issues. Workers actively pursue mediation to keep children with their families.”

It concludes: “Staff describe a supportive work environment and culture, in which they feel highly valued by managers and leaders, who are accessible at every level, determined and focused on improvement, and this commitment is evident and tangible.”

Kate Stock, Wandsworth’s Cabinet Member for Children said: “I am proud of the hard work being done in Wandsworth to keep children safe. It is arguably the most important job we have as an organisation and this independent assessment of our performance is heartening to read.

“We have some incredibly dedicated and skilful social work teams whose efforts have been rightly recognised in this report. I’d like to add my own personal thanks for everything they do.

And while we welcome this positive verdict on our performance we won’t be resting on our laurels. We know we must maintain the very highest possible standards to ensure children feel safe in our borough.”