Durham local authority children’s services

Inspection of Durham local authority children’s services

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Lead inspector: Ceri Evans, His Majesty’s Inspector

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Judgement Grade

The impact of leaders on social work practice with children and families Outstanding

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Judgement Grade

The experiences and progress of children who need help and protection Good

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Judgement Grade

The experiences and progress of children in care Outstanding

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Judgement Grade

The experiences and progress of care leavers Outstanding

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Judgement Grade

Since the last inspection in 2022, senior leaders have continued to strengthen services for children and families in Durham. Despite rising demand, strong and aspirational senior leaders have continued to improve and innovate services. There is an unwavering corporate commitment to improving and enriching the lives of children and their families, evidence of which is provided by the significant and sustained investment in children’s services. This has enabled the development of a wide range of very successful initiatives that are having a positive impact on children and their families, whatever their level of need. A number of bespoke projects are having a palpable, positive impact on the lives of children.

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Judgement Grade

Durham is a learning organisation which has responded effectively to areas for development. Leaders have invested in the service and implemented a coherent strategy to help children at the earliest opportunity. The focus on keeping children at the heart of everything has led to the development of highly effective services that are having a lasting impact on the lives of many children, particularly children in care and care leavers. Children are influential in the development of the service. Staff at all levels are valued and very well supported, resulting in a positive culture where workers can practise safely and make a positive impact on children’s lives. Inspection of Durham local authority children’s services 24 to 28 March 2025

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What needs to improve? 1

◼ Contingency planning in child-in-need and child protection plans so that families and professionals understand the action needed to ensure the child’s safety. (Enabler 3)

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What needs to improve? 1

◼ The inclusion of children’s needs as young carers in child-in-need and child protection plans. (Outcome 1)

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protection: good

1. Children and families in need of help and protection receive an effective service that results in positive experiences and improved lives for most children.

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protection: good

2. The comprehensive early help offer is a significant strength. Children and families benefit from an extensive range of well-coordinated multi-agency early help support. The early intervention and family support services are located in accessible family hubs across the county and provide an impressive range of preventative and individually tailored services for children and their families. This intervention is successfully reducing the need for statutory intervention for many families.

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protection: good

3. Good quality early help assessments are formulated alongside families. They include the views of children and have input from partner agencies. Historical information about the family is mostly well considered. This helps those supporting the families to understand the child’s current situation and supports the timely recognition of children’s needs.

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protection: good

4. When children’s needs change or escalate, arrangements to move into or out of early help to statutory services are well embedded and understood. This means that children receive the right support and at the right time.

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protection: good

5. Collaborative working within the multi-agency safeguarding hub ensures that contacts and referrals are managed within an effective system. Children with the highest level of need and concern are given priority and appropriate decisions are made. Parental consent is fully considered, obtained and recorded, both for the contact being made and for inter-agency checks to be carried out. When consent is overridden, the rationale for this is clearly recorded.

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protection: good

6. Children receive effective support and interventions from the out-of-hours emergency duty team (EDT). EDT workers make clear and effective decisions and identify and respond to risk well. Sound communication between out-of-hours

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protection: good

1 The areas for improvement have been cross-referenced with the outcomes, enablers or principles in the Children’s Social Care: National Framework . This statutory guidance sets out the purpose, principles for practice and expected outcomes of children’s social care. Inspection of Durham local authority children’s services 24 to 28 March 2025 and daytime services means that children receive a seamless service that improves their immediate situation.

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protection: good

7. When safeguarding concerns are identified, the decisions for progressing to a strategy meeting are appropriate. Strategy meetings are timely for most children and well attended by relevant agencies. Initial safety planning is implemented effectively while ongoing checks are made. Effective information-sharing leads to a mostly proportionate response and relevant actions that help to protect children.

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protection: good

8. When child protection enquiries are required, they are robust and focus on presenting risks as well as wider issues, including risks to other children in the community. Partner agency attendance and engagement in meetings is evident, and this helps to support effective decision-making about the level of risks to children.

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protection: good

9. Social workers have a good understanding of children’s experiences. Direct work is undertaken with children during the assessment process. This captures children’s experiences well, and they are helped to share difficult feelings in a child focused and sensitive way. Children’s views are taken into account and inform assessment outcomes. Assessments are well written and social workers can easily demonstrate that they fully consider family history and parental capacity to meet the current and future needs of children. Social workers are professionally curious and worry statements are used effectively. This results in a detailed analysis of risk and need, and appropriate recommendations being made.

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protection: good

10. Assessments in the disabled children’s team are also very thorough and provide a detailed understanding of the children’s health and level of need. Parenting capacity, external support, views of parents and the views and observations of children are explored well, leading to appropriate decision-making.

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protection: good

11. Child-in-need and child protection plans are detailed, outcome focused and succinct. They are specific about what needs to happen and by when. Social workers can easily articulate what contingency plans are in place. However, these are not consistently captured in the children’s written plans.

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protection: good

12. There is clear management oversight of work with children within the pre- proceedings stage of the Public Law Outline (PLO). PLO meetings and letters make clear to parents what needs to change. Pre-proceedings work is timely, children’s progress is closely monitored, and swift action is taken when risks to children do not reduce. Due to effective work in pre-proceedings, many families are supported to make positive changes that avoid the need for court proceedings.

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protection: good

13. Children benefit from well-attended core groups and child-in-need review meetings, which routinely use scaling to assess concerns. This helps children and families to see the progress that they are making. Child protection chairs provide effective oversight of children’s progress. Children’s plans are dynamic, and they Inspection of Durham local authority children’s services 24 to 28 March 2025 are updated as a child’s needs or risks change. In most children’s cases, seen risks reduce and plans do not drift.

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protection: good

14. Practitioners routinely explore children’s family networks as part of planning. Every opportunity is given for families to come together and explore risk and make reasonable and sensible safety plans for children, facilitated through effective family group conferencing arrangements. This approach has been successful for many families as children have benefited from a coordinated package of support from people they know and trust.

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protection: good

15. The impact of mental illness, poverty and domestic abuse is very well understood by social workers. Many families have benefited from specialist parenting assessments, training workshops and group work to help them identify and understand the impact this has on children. This is helping to facilitate positive changes in families with complex difficulties and ultimately is making a difference to children’s lived experiences.

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protection: good

16. Since the last inspection, leaders and managers have introduced a bespoke, intensive, practical and emotional support package to parents, including care leavers who have had one or more children permanently removed from their care. The service is unique in its approach, supporting parents to make positive and sustained changes in their lives for the benefit of their children.

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protection: good

17. Social workers respond robustly to the needs of children at risk of exploitation and those missing from home. Social workers regularly visit children and talk through episodes of going missing from care in order to understand and explore the risks that children may face. Persistent efforts are made to engage children. There is a high take-up of return home interviews, and for children at the highest risk, the quality of information obtained contributes directly to disruption activity. This has proved effective and helped to reduce missing-from-care episodes for many children.

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protection: good

18. Children experiencing exploitation or those at risk of extra-familial harm receive strong targeted help and support. Professionals and partners commit to regular meetings to discuss children’s risks and safety. They work cohesively and act swiftly in response to concerns. This benefits wider safety planning and the identification of other vulnerable children.

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protection: good

19. The needs and challenges of being a young carer are identified by social workers, and appropriate referrals are made so that support is in place. When children have child-in-need or child protection plans, the inclusion of children’s specific needs as young carers is not consistently captured in case records and plans. This means that the significance and the impact of their role as a carer are not fully understood or captured.

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protection: good

20. Children aged 16 and 17 who present as homeless receive a timely response. Those who are unable to return home are made aware of their rights and entitlements, including the option of coming into care, and they are provided with Inspection of Durham local authority children’s services 24 to 28 March 2025 accommodation that meets their needs. Joint assessments with the department of housing are undertaken when appropriate. Independent advocacy is routinely offered but is not always explicitly recorded on the child’s file, making it difficult for leaders to track whether children have been offered this service. Leaders are aware of this and have meaningful plans to address it.

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protection: good

21. A small number of children live in private fostering arrangements. For most of these children, there is an effective response to ensure that their living arrangements are assessed and supported appropriately.

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protection: good

22. The local authority designated officer service is strong. They ensure that allegations against staff and carers are investigated and responded to quickly. This helps to safeguard children effectively.

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protection: good

23. Senior leaders have very clear arrangements to identify and respond to children who are missing from education or who are electively home educated. They have effective systems in place to ensure that vulnerable home-educated children are safeguarded.

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The experiences and progress of children in care: outstanding

24. Children in care receive a high-quality service from social workers, who demonstrate that they care and have genuine compassion for them. Many children told inspectors that they felt cared for and that they trust that their workers are reliable, honest and available. Children spoken with said that they feel listened to and respected.

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The experiences and progress of children in care: outstanding

25. Most children come into care at the right time. In the vast majority of cases, these decisions are pre-planned and appropriate following long-standing interventions with families who have been unable to sustain positive change. Leaders are aware that a small number of children have come into care in an unplanned way due to the police exercising their powers of protection. Overall, the number of children entering care in this manner has reduced significantly since the last inspection. Leaders continue to work with partners to ensure that this only occurs when absolutely necessary.

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The experiences and progress of children in care: outstanding

26. Durham has an impressive range of high-quality services, including an effective in-house therapeutic service . This is a county-wide service, which offers targeted intervention to promote children’s mental health, resilience and recovery. An example of the work undertaken in this team includes the Care to Dance project. This offers a space where children can explore their trauma, fears and concerns through dance. There is also a mental health prevention and support service, which has been developed with health partners to provide crisis support with the aim of preventing Tier 4 mental health hospital admissions. Leaders have increased the number of children’s homes so that appropriate placements can be found quickly for the children with the most complex needs. These initiatives have been very successful, as many children have benefited from tailored interventions that have prevented their mental health issues from escalating. The

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The experiences and progress of children in care: outstanding

Inspection of Durham local authority children’s services 24 to 28 March 2025 rate of hospital admission for children has reduced significantly since the last inspection as a direct result of this effective service.

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The experiences and progress of children in care: outstanding

27. Supporting Solutions, Durham’s edge of care service, is providing highly effective and intensive support to children at risk of entering care or experiencing a placement move. This service has benefited from increased staffing and a stronger focus on reunification, ensuring that children in care are supported to return safely to their families where possible. This targeted approach has resulted in many children receiving early, intensive support, which has successfully reduced the need for care placements and enabled them to remain safely with their families. The success rate of this service is impressive, with a high number of children remaining with their family or long-term carers following intervention.

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The experiences and progress of children in care: outstanding

28. Social workers are persistent and endeavour to explore all situations thoroughly to support children to live within their kinship network, whenever possible. They promptly and robustly assess alternative carers to ensure the best possible plan for children.

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The experiences and progress of children in care: outstanding

29. A full range of permanence options are considered for children from the earliest stages of care planning. Children benefit from timely adoptions or placements with special guardians and kinship carers. The support to kinship carers is strong. These arrangements are well supported by family network meetings so that when support is needed the family can step in to help the child. There is also practical, financial and emotional support for those who want to become special guardians. This level of support is helping to ensure that these arrangements have every chance of success and children are enabled to live with kinship carers.

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The experiences and progress of children in care: outstanding

30. Early permanence and parallel planning are also well considered and foster to adopt is well established. A number of children have benefited from such arrangements.

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The experiences and progress of children in care: outstanding

31. Children living in children’s homes or with foster carers make very good progress. Inspectors saw and heard many examples of children thriving in their homes and their outcomes improving because of the care that they receive. Children, including children with complex needs, live with carers who can meet their needs. Placement stability figures are high, which means that children are not experiencing multiple moves and most children are settled where they live.

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The experiences and progress of children in care: outstanding

32. Care planning for children, including disabled children, is child focused and effective. Children’s care plans contain the right actions to promote progress for children. Children’s care plans are regularly monitored through timely reviews. There is a strong independent reviewing officer (IRO) footprint in their records. Their review decisions are clearly recorded and sensitively written. IROs have excellent relationships with children. They visit them in between reviews and maintain relationships with them. The quality of these relationships helps to support children’s engagement in their reviews and ensures they have a say in their lives. Inspection of Durham local authority children’s services 24 to 28 March 2025 33. Social workers build consistent and important relationships with children. They have a thorough understanding of the children they work with and are passionate about improving their experiences and outcomes. Regular, purposeful and

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The experiences and progress of children in care: outstanding

insightful direct work is undertaken. This work is carefully tailored to children’s individual needs, age and ability and enables children to have a thorough understanding of why they are in care. Social workers positively beamed when they spoke of their ‘bairns’. They are ambitious and are rightly proud of children’s achievements.

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The experiences and progress of children in care: outstanding

34. Children in care enjoy and benefit from a wide range of activities and opportunities that enable them to enjoy life and make good progress. They are supported to see their friends and family, and in some instances enjoy family time with their pets, which has had a significant impact on their sense of well-being.

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The experiences and progress of children in care: outstanding

35. Children’s physical health is promoted. Social workers and carers ensure that children attend dental and optician appointments and that these are considered during their reviews.

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The experiences and progress of children in care: outstanding

36. The well-regarded virtual school is ambitious for children in care. The virtual school plays a lead role in championing the educational needs of children in care. It builds on, and supports, the strong partnerships that have been established over time between schools, settings and the local authority. The virtual school regularly reviews the needs of children to ensure that their needs are appropriately addressed. Strong and effective partnerships between schools and the virtual school mean that most children’s educational outcomes improve.

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The experiences and progress of children in care: outstanding

37. Children who are missing receive timely and responsive action from the local authority. Return home interviews take place quickly and support the work of both social workers and carers in reducing the risk. Equally, when risks escalate, there are timely, multi-agency meetings that help to create coordinated plans to support the child and reduce risk. Alongside this, social workers undertake creative direct work to engage the child and gain an understanding of the push- and-pull factors leading to their episodes of going missing. This work is highly effective and has led to a reduction of risk for many children.

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The experiences and progress of children in care: outstanding

38. Durham has a rigorous approach to assessing the needs of unaccompanied asylum-seeking children when they first arrive via the National Transfer Scheme. These vulnerable children live in a range of suitable homes, with carers who understand their journeys and can meet their needs. Education provision is arranged quickly, and they are supported to make friends and settle into the community as much as possible. They are helped to access services, including access to a specialist emotional well-being practitioner, who is able to provide responsive support based on need.

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The experiences and progress of children in care: outstanding

39. There are a small number of children living in unregistered children’s homes. Leaders regularly monitor the welfare of children living in these settings and work with commissioners to find registered homes so that children do not stay for Inspection of Durham local authority children’s services 24 to 28 March 2025 extended periods of time in these arrangements. Proactive work is also undertaken to encourage these providers to register with Ofsted.

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The experiences and progress of children in care: outstanding

40. Assessments of prospective foster carers and the training and support subsequently provided are of a high standard. The support offered by supervising social workers helps carers to remain resilient and child focused even through difficult times.

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The experiences and progress of children in care: outstanding

41. The assessment and preparation of adopters are equally sound. Effective relationships with the regional adoption agency (Adopt Coast to Coast) ensure that there are sufficient carers who are well prepared and supported to offer homes for Durham children. Adopters who spoke with inspectors say that they feel very well supported. They confirmed that carefully planned introductions helped to prepare them as adopters. They get to know the children quickly so that a smooth transition can take place that gives the placement every chance for success.

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The experiences and progress of children in care: outstanding

42. The achievements of children in care are celebrated well in Durham. Children’s participation is influential and widespread; it is very much part of the organisational value base. It is ingrained in practice and threaded throughout. The local authority is innovative about how it encourages participation; for example, it recently held a choir project which promoted children’s inclusion and well-being. Children have also collaborated with a local poet to publish a book. Other successes include designing individual profiles for social workers and IROs, and drafting a Pledge for Children in Care, setting out their rights and expectations.

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The experiences and progress of care leavers: outstanding

43. Care leavers receive high-quality support from personal advisers (PAs) and social workers, who know them well. Care leavers benefit from enduring and, in some instances, lifelong links with workers, who support them extremely well. Trusted and reliable relationships are at the heart of the support provided. Support provided for care leavers continues in accordance with needs, regardless of age, and makes a tremendous difference as children and young people move into adulthood.

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The experiences and progress of care leavers: outstanding

44. Care leavers are encouraged to be proud of their achievements and to celebrate their successes, no matter how small. PAs are passionate and speak with sensitivity about the challenges some young people have faced and how they have overcome these. PAs have a deep sense of pride, which is palpable and felt across the service. Care leavers feel it too. They told inspectors that they have strong and caring relationships with workers. Many view their PAs as extended family, which is testament to the enduring relationships they have.

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The experiences and progress of care leavers: outstanding

45. PAs ensure that they regularly keep in touch with their young people, with increased visiting when necessary. PAs play a vital role in recognising the significance of care leavers’ relationships with their families, carers and friends Inspection of Durham local authority children’s services 24 to 28 March 2025 and actively support them to maintain these important links. Planning for adulthood starts early and each care leaver is assigned a PA from the Staying Close programme, which is separate from the care leavers’ team, which conducts life skills assessments to inform the development of independence skills. Alongside this, PAs from the care leaver service are allocated to all children in care early and at that point the young person is visited and informed about the care leaver offer. This helps to ensure that young people are as prepared as possible for what is a significant transition point for them.

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The experiences and progress of care leavers: outstanding

46. The ‘Always Here’ offer extends support beyond the formal care leaver status. The service actively keeps in touch with those young adults who have left, and PAs encourage ongoing contact and provide advice and signposting when needed. Care leavers, no matter what age, are provided with support in line with their needs, and PAs are always there for them during challenging times.

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The experiences and progress of care leavers: outstanding

47. Improvements have been made to the quality and impact of pathway plans. Plans are created with care leavers; they identify needs well and lead to relevant actions that help young people. Pathway plans are ambitious and aspirational. They fully reflect the depth of the support that is being provided and how this is helping care leavers to make positive progress and changes in their lives.

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The experiences and progress of care leavers: outstanding

48. The service is proud of the accessible local offer they have for care leavers. It is easily accessed online, routinely shared via text message, and supported by a QR code to extend its reach. The local offer sets out the range of financial support and help available. PAs routinely share the offer with care leavers before their 18th birthday and continue to do so as they move towards adulthood. This helps to ensure that care leavers are kept fully informed and supported to access what they are entitled to.

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The experiences and progress of care leavers: outstanding

49. Many care leavers are in employment, education or training and a significantly increased number are at university. Young people benefit from support from a dedicated higher education specialist adviser. The adviser maintains regular contact with young people during their studies and liaises with university care leaver teams to ensure that young people have the support in place to succeed. If care leavers are not in education, employment or training, there are a range of opportunities to help care leavers to access opportunities. Young people are helped effectively, to gain employability skills, to prepare for job interviews, attend college and apply for apprenticeships. Effective links with local businesses are helping to expand the opportunities available to young people.

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The experiences and progress of care leavers: outstanding

50. Most care leavers are living in suitable accommodation, including ‘staying put’ arrangements. There are various accommodation options available, which range from shared accommodation or supported lodgings to housing from a core group of providers.

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The experiences and progress of care leavers: outstanding

51. A Care Leaver Accommodation and Support Protocol (CLASP) has been developed jointly with housing and the care leavers service. This has led to a very clear process for identifying and addressing housing issues early, meaning that their Inspection of Durham local authority children’s services 24 to 28 March 2025 most vulnerable care leavers have access to accommodation that meets their needs well.

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The experiences and progress of care leavers: outstanding

52. Care leavers are supported to maintain links with family members and other adults to ensure that they have access to a network of people who can offer them long-lasting support into adulthood. The use of family network meetings has proved effective in helping care leavers to reconnect with family and get the support they need as they become young adults.

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The experiences and progress of care leavers: outstanding

53. The response to care leavers in custody is very strong. Durham’s innovative prison drop-in sessions are successful in helping to re-engage care leavers in custody. The regular drop-in helps to make sure that care leavers in custody feel connected and valued. Post-custody release planning starts early, and this is a strength. Attendance at pre-release boards ensures that plans are secured early, reducing the risk of drift. Strong protocols the department of housing also assist with making sure that suitable accommodation is in place post-release. There is a level of tenacity, hope and aspiration for care leavers, particularly those who are, or have been, in custody. PAs do not give up on them and they continue attempts to support care leavers to access what they need so that they feel valued, seen and cared about.

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The experiences and progress of care leavers: outstanding

54. Care leavers who are parents are well supported by their PAs, who offer them planned and tailored support to enable the care leaver to develop as a parent. Young parents are encouraged to share their experiences through initiatives such as ‘connect sessions’ and groups. These sessions have aided learning and helped to ensure that young parents feel less isolated and more connected to the service, and, for many, these session have helped prevent their children from entering care.

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The experiences and progress of care leavers: outstanding

55. Unaccompanied asylum-seeking care leavers are well supported by a specialist team of practitioners who understand the impact of earlier life experiences and trauma and support them with their asylum applications. They are culturally attuned to the individual needs of this vulnerable group. The service also has a focus group for unaccompanied asylum-seeking children, which is helping to ensure that young people’s voices shape service improvements and that their experiences inform future developments. An example is a co-produced booklet to help guide care leavers through the asylum process.

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The experiences and progress of care leavers: outstanding

56. Care leavers are provided with their health records, and they are supported in accessing health services. For care leavers with complex emotional and mental health needs, the specialist mental health team remains accessible beyond the age of 18. Leaders have also strengthened their provision by appointing an emotional well-being practitioner, who is co-located in the care leavers service. This is helping to ensure that care leavers are receiving the right support at the right time.

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The experiences and progress of care leavers: outstanding

57. Impressively, the authority’s emotional well-being offer has been shaped and influenced by care leavers themselves. The Next Venture Fund is an annual Inspection of Durham local authority children’s services 24 to 28 March 2025 budget going directly to the care leavers group to help them develop discrete areas of the service. Now in its second year, this highly successful initiative has helped shape the service. An example of this includes an introduction of ‘well- being bags’ for care leavers, monthly craft sessions and well-being walks. All of these help to promote inclusion, connection and mental wellness. Care leavers told inspectors how much they valued this level of connection, and the trust leaders have in them to manage their own service budget.

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The experiences and progress of care leavers: outstanding

58. The service now has two care leaver hubs, with a third ‘superhub’ in development. Care leavers told us that the hubs provide them with a sense of community and offer safe spaces for young people to meet, relax and make friends. A care leaver said: ‘Having a place to go to get help whilst joining in activities means the world to us.’

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The experiences and progress of care leavers: outstanding

59. Care leavers are very much encouraged and supported to help shape and develop care leaver services. Care leavers routinely attend the corporate parenting board to share their experiences and influence service design. Care leavers told inspectors that they valued the differing opportunities to become involved in groups. They described how important the groups have been in developing their social and networking skills.

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families: outstanding

60. Senior and political leaders in Durham are ambitious, purposeful and influential. They are unrelenting in their pursuit of doing what is right for children and families, resulting in consistent improvements and the delivery of high-quality services for children and families.

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families: outstanding

61. There is a strong relationship between the leader of the council, the lead member for children’s services, the chief executive and the director of children’s services. Their collaboration and unstinting focus on ‘getting it right for children’ is truly influential. Together, they have successfully created a culture in which children and the workforce come first. This is leading to an outward-facing and innovative service that is meeting the needs of children and families to a high standard.

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families: outstanding

62. Leaders understand the service well. Their comprehensive self-evaluation is accurate and reflects the areas for development identified during the inspection. Leaders have not stood still and have been proactive in developing provision to address need and further enhance services for children. There are numerous examples of how services have been strengthened since the last inspection. New services have been introduced across all areas of practice. These bespoke services, such as the emotional well-being and early help offer, have made a considerable difference to children and their families.

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families: outstanding

63. Senior and political leaders listen and learn from children, staff and carers when planning service development. The corporate parenting board is committed and highly effective. The board is reflective, holding itself and senior leaders Inspection of Durham local authority children’s services 24 to 28 March 2025 accountable for the quality of care provided to children. The effectiveness of the board is enhanced by the openness and energy of the input from the children in care and care leaver councils. In the words of a young person, ‘We used to be on the outside looking in; now we are very much behind the wheel driving things forward alongside leaders.’

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families: outstanding

64. Strategic partnerships are strong and feedback from partner agencies is positive. They report that leaders work effectively and collaboratively with partners to ensure that children and families are provided with the help and support that they need. There is evidence of constructive professional challenge, joint training and continued discussions to improve multi-agency working with colleagues from the police, health and education. This is leading to continued improvements in ensuring that the right support at the right time is given to children and families.

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families: outstanding

65. There has been an investment in the redevelopment of accommodation for children in care and care leavers. Leaders have increased in-house provision, which is having a positive impact on sufficiency and enabling more children to remain in Durham. Leaders have also significantly increased their short-break provider base for disabled children. The number of beds is more than double the number at the last inspection. This means that children benefit from a wider range of support and care packages.

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families: outstanding

66. Leaders have developed a range of audit practice within a robust and highly effective quality assurance framework. Collaborative audits, along with peer and multi-agency reviews, are providing leaders with a strong line of sight to frontline practice. Workers say that the audit process is helpful and provides an opportunity to pause and reflect on their practice.

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families: outstanding

67. Opportunities for workforce learning are well established. Durham’s leadership academy has continued to develop and provides high-quality training for operational managers. Inspectors saw a number of strands to the academy, including workshops, mentoring and advice. The supervision framework has also been refreshed so that there are clearer expectations around how to capture the depth of reflection that takes place in these sessions. Effective training and supervision are helping to ensure a high level of consistent, strong social work practice across most service areas.

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families: outstanding

68. Children benefit from an increasingly experienced, permanent workforce. Social workers know their children well. The retention of workers has significantly improved. Managers at all levels are now permanent employees and a high proportion of the workforce are experienced practitioners. Caseloads have reduced; they are balanced and reasonable for most workers. Social workers have time to spend with children, their visits are purposeful, and they capture children’s views about their lived experience. Social workers told inspectors that Durham is a great place to work. Their words and actions convey a sense of belonging, and they view Durham as their employer of choice. Inspection of Durham local authority children’s services 24 to 28 March 2025 regulates and inspects to achieve excellence in the care of children and young people, and in education and skills for learners of all ages. It regulates and

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families: outstanding

inspects childcare and children’s social care, and inspects the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (Cafcass), schools, colleges, initial teacher training, further education and skills, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It assesses council children’s services, and inspects services for looked-after children, safeguarding and child protection. If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 1231, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk . You may reuse this information (not including logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence. To view this licence, visit www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence , write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk .

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families: outstanding

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families: outstanding

T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/ofsted

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