Newcastle upon Tyne local authority children’s services

Inspection of Newcastle upon Tyne local authority children’s services

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Lead inspector: Rachel Fairhurst, His Majesty’s Inspector

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Judgement Grade

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

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Judgement Grade

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

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Judgement Grade

The experiences and progress of children in care Good

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Judgement Grade

The experiences and progress of care leavers Requires improvement to be good

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Judgement Grade

Senior leaders have overseen continuous improvement in most services across children’s social care since the last inspection in 2021. There is strong political support and accountability for children’s safety and well-being. The local authority’s self-evaluation of practice is accurate. Leaders know their services well; they understand their strengths, and where further development is needed, they have built capacity for improvement and strengthened and realigned services.

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Judgement Grade

A strong focus on working differently at a local early help level, and where children are on the edge of care, is delivering improved experiences for children and their families. A successful sufficiency strategy is enabling more children in care to live within kinship arrangements, closer to the city and in more stable homes.

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Judgement Grade

A relational model underpins practice across the service, which is embraced and delivered by a stable and committed workforce that cares for and about children. Staff training is prioritised, and staff receive regular supervision and good support from managers. The quality and impact of supervision are not consistently recorded in supervision records to help staff better drive forward children’s plans. Inspection of Newcastle upon Tyne local authority children’s services 12 to 16 May 2025

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What needs to improve? 1

◼ The quality, frequency and recording of supervision, including use of reflection. (Enabler two: National Framework)

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What needs to improve? 1

◼ The quality and consistency of pathway planning for care leavers, including management oversight. (Outcome four: National Framework)

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What needs to improve? 1

◼ The quality and consistency of independent reviewing officer (IRO) oversight. (Enabler three: National Framework)

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What needs to improve? 1

◼ The quality of support and oversight from the virtual school, including the quality and quality assurance of personal education plans (PEPs). (Outcome two: National Framework)

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protection: outstanding

1. The range and reach of the Early Help offer in Newcastle are extensive. It provides children and families with effective and timely support services when problems first emerge. Newcastle City Council has commissioned, within Early Help, ‘The Community Family Offer’, delivered by voluntary sector partners. Children benefit from co-located multi-agency services, including from the voluntary sector. Family hubs provide a collaborative, accessible and all-age central point for families to access a variety of help and support. A significant number of agency partners operate out of numerous outreach locations and ensure the most vulnerable families with the highest level of need are reached by these services. This is helping to increase protective factors and resilience by providing the right support at the right time.

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protection: outstanding

2. The Initial Response Service (IRS) provides a very effective ‘front door’. It makes effective decisions about how it will act on information about the well-being and safety of children. Co-located partner agencies make best use of each other’s expertise. This leads to appropriate information-sharing, a proportionate and timely response to contacts and referrals and, if required, immediate safety planning.

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protection: outstanding

3. The threshold for access to statutory social care services is appropriately applied and well understood by staff within the IRS. Partner agencies better understand how and when to make a referral, which is an improvement since the last inspection. Contact and referral information is analysed by experienced and skilled social workers who diligently gain an understanding, not only of the immediate concern, but the child’s experience, the family circumstances and historical information. This leads to a clear analysis of risk and appropriate and timely decisions about next steps. Good

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protection: outstanding

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 Newcastle upon Tyne local authority children’s services 12 to 16 May 2025 management oversight is evident, but the rationale for management decisions is not always clear in children’s records.

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protection: outstanding

4. Assessments of children’s needs are dynamic and timely, with appropriate information-sharing between agencies. Social workers include the history and context of any previous involvement with the family within assessments. They explore the presenting issues, including children’s and families’ cultural identities. Risk and need are evaluated effectively, always with the safety and welfare of the child in mind. The child’s voice and lived experience are consistently gathered and influence planning.

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protection: outstanding

5. Children’s plans are detailed and reflect their assessed needs. However, a small number of children’s plans are overly task-focused. Safety planning is effective as social workers proactively put safety plans in place during assessments to reduce and manage risk for children. These are most often developed closely with parents and family networks.

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protection: outstanding

6. The out-of-hours service responds promptly to out-of-hours referrals, assessing risks and taking immediate action when necessary. The service is staffed appropriately, with experienced workers and an experienced manager. Strong systems are in place for handover arrangements to daytime services.

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protection: outstanding

7. Responses to child protection concerns are timely and thorough. Strategy meetings are convened promptly and with relevant multi-agency partners in attendance. This enables the history and current concerns to be evaluated simultaneously so that appropriate decisions can be made to better safeguard children. Child protection investigations are thorough. Children are seen swiftly, and their views, wherever possible, are well captured in meeting records. Comprehensive safety planning takes place and the transfer of referrals from the IRS team to longer-term or dedicated teams is expedient.

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protection: outstanding

8. When disabled children need help and protection, they receive a consistent and proportionate service from a dedicated team of social workers who understand their and their family’s needs. Strategy meetings are timely and well attended by relevant partners, resulting in appropriate multi-agency plans that safeguard, manage and reduce risk effectively.

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protection: outstanding

9. Initial child protection conferences are well attended by a strong multi-agency network. Effective information-sharing ensures that appropriate decisions are made to best safeguard children and protect them from harm. There is a strong focus on parental and family engagement. The importance of working in partnership with parents and family members underpins all child protection work. Subsequent multi- agency meetings are held regularly and are well attended by families and relevant professionals. Written records of core groups and reviews are clear about children’s and families’ progress. A strong emphasis is placed on measuring this in terms of children’s starting points, experiences and risk reduction. Inspection of Newcastle upon Tyne local authority children’s services 12 to 16 May 2025 10. When children are subject to repeat child protection plans, the reason for the repeat plan is thoroughly scrutinised by senior managers. This is clearly reflected in

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protection: outstanding

children’s records and recorded by child protection chairs. Drift and delay are avoided by timely escalation into pre-proceedings when children’s circumstances do not improve soon enough. When families enter the Public Law Outline, strong social work relational practice provides parents with a clear structure setting out the concerns. This vital opportunity to explore with parents and their extended family is used to best effect to try to resolve concerns about the care and protection of their children and to avoid escalation to court. This is an improvement since the last inspection.

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protection: outstanding

11. The relational practice model is in evidence across the help and protection service. Children are visited regularly and in line with their assessed need and risk. Utilising and integrating family support workers into teams to support social workers in practice has been a success. Carrying out non-statutory tasks and supporting teams in this way have created more time for social workers to undertake more complex direct work and interventions with children. Good-quality direct work is undertaken by social workers who skilfully ascertain the child’s views, wishes and feelings, which, where appropriate, safely inform their plans. Social workers complete sensitively written records that enable children to understand the decisions that have influenced and shaped their lives should they wish.

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protection: outstanding

12. Children who are experiencing or are at risk of harm are appropriately and effectively identified. Social workers understand the impact of neglect on children, including cumulative harm. The impact of harm on children is assessed well by social workers, who show professional curiosity and have a solid understanding of the multifaceted and complex areas of risk. The response to domestic abuse has been strengthened since the last inspection, and the impact on children living with domestic abuse is very well understood by practitioners. They show acute curiosity about the nature of family relationships.

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protection: outstanding

13. When children go missing from home and are exposed to extra-familial harm, the multi-agency response and analysis of risk are effective and have been strengthened since the last inspection. The introduction of the Partnership Reduction of Exploitation and Missing (PREM) panel in October 2024 shows a dynamic response to local need and risk. The development of risk outside of the home plans has been embedded into social workers’ practice to ensure that there is a specific focus on this risk to children. These plans are independently reviewed by IROs, and the format of the plans provides an effective multi-agency focus and response to risk of exploitation.

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protection: outstanding

14. The Pre-Birth Team works effectively with parents where children have been removed from their care, or parents who are care experienced or who may have vulnerabilities and risks that may impact on their ability to care for their children. Families are allocated a social worker and family support worker from the initial referral, and this enables intensive, focused and targeted work to be undertaken quickly and effectively. Pre-birth assessments are detailed, thorough and demonstrate professional curiosity. They carefully consider relevant historical Inspection of Newcastle upon Tyne local authority children’s services 12 to 16 May 2025 information and make clear and considered recommendations. This area of work is a real strength, resulting in sustained positive change and, for a growing number of children, a plan of permanence to remain living with their parents.

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protection: outstanding

15. There are clear protocols in place in response to 16- to 17-year-old young people who present as homeless. These vulnerable young people receive a timely, strong and effective response to their needs, including the offer of independent advocacy. Young people are supported initially to return to their family when safe to do so, or alternatively they are offered accommodation in local authority care or assessed safe and supported accommodation to meet their need and preference.

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protection: outstanding

16. Children on the edge of care benefit from a wide range of services and interventions to keep them at home where it is safe to do so. This is contributing positively to diverting children from entering care. Specific support services such as Family Group Conferencing and Multi-Systemic Therapy are having a positive impact for a significant number of children in supporting them to remain at home or within their family networks. Highly skilled workers provide intensive therapeutic interventions to support parents and carers to be able to better meet children’s needs. Their targeted and time-limited interventions enable families to make tangible progress in their parenting capacity. Dynamic and proactive approaches are supporting resilience and improved experiences for children and their families.

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protection: outstanding

17. The arrangements for private fostering are highly effective. Clear definitions, procedures and referral pathways assist practitioners and partners in identification and notification to children’s social care of these arrangements. Children who live in these arrangements benefit from visits from a consistent allocated worker, enabling children to form a relationship and share their views on whether they feel safe and well cared for. There is a rigorous and comprehensive assessment and appropriate planning, with ongoing monitoring and review by an IRO. This ensures that the child’s needs continue to be met and that arrangements remain the most appropriate and suitable for the child.

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protection: outstanding

18. Where identified as young carers, children are referred for a specific assessment undertaken by a commissioned service. Senior leaders are currently reviewing these arrangements, as while they receive regular reports about children’s positive progress, assessments and plans undertaken by this service are not accessible to the local authority.

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protection: outstanding

19. When concerns are raised about professionals who work with children, these are taken seriously and managed effectively. The local authority designated officer service has significant experience and understanding of the different professional communities and uses this knowledge to develop relationships with a range of partners. There are some vulnerabilities in the resilience and recording within this service, although no detriment was identified.

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protection: outstanding

20. There is robust senior management and strong multi-agency oversight of those children who are electively home educated (EHE) and those who do not attend school on a full-time basis. This provides effective challenge and scrutiny around how Inspection of Newcastle upon Tyne local authority children’s services 12 to 16 May 2025 long pupils are on the Children Missing Education register and deploys interventions to support children back into education wherever possible. These strong relationships are impacting positively on the local authority’s ability to locate, trace and subsequently to take affirmative action for these vulnerable children. The local authority is also providing a range of information to families, and work by inclusion key workers is impacting positively on pupils missing out of education. The strengthening of partnerships has supported a reduction in the number of children who are missing education, with joint home visits between special educational needs

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protection: outstanding

and/or disabilities and EHE case officers where an education, health and care plan is in place. Joint meetings also take place where children have an allocated social worker, such as children in need or subject to child protection plans.

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The experiences and progress of children in care: good

21. When children can no longer live safely at home, social workers thoroughly explore whether family or friends can provide care. Kinship care is prioritised when it is safe and in children’s best interests. This is helping children maintain family connections. These decisions are robustly overseen by senior managers. As a result, many children remain living within their family and with their brothers and sisters whenever this is safe and possible.

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The experiences and progress of children in care: good

22. When care proceedings is the only option to secure children’s futures, social workers are well prepared. Applications to the family court are properly evidenced, resulting in care proceedings concluding quickly with as little disruption for children as possible. Senior leaders ensure permanence is considered at the earliest opportunity, which includes pre-birth where appropriate. This is ensuring that more children have a secure and loving home to give them a sense of security and stability.

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The experiences and progress of children in care: good

23. An increasing number of children are leaving care to live in kinship arrangements subject to special guardianship orders (SGO). While these arrangements are thoroughly assessed and supported, current financial support is initially limited to a two-year period, with further support provided where it is assessed as necessary, in line with means testing. This is not providing either an incentive or financial security to secure children’s futures in SGO arrangements. Senior leaders are acutely aware of the impact of this national issue and are actively working with political leaders and the Department for Education to secure additional funding.

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The experiences and progress of children in care: good

24. When children return home to live with their parents, comprehensive assessments are completed by specialist reunification workers. This ensures that these arrangements are carefully considered and can be sustained. Oversight from senior managers provides a clear rationale for these decisions and ensures that monitoring and support continue.

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The experiences and progress of children in care: good

25. When children cannot remain within their birth families, most children live in a variety of stable and secure homes. A strong emphasis is also placed on healing and maintaining safe family connections. Children spend time with those members of their family and friends who are important to them. Inspection of Newcastle upon Tyne local authority children’s services 12 to 16 May 2025 26. Children’s social workers understand the importance of long-term foster care to give children a loving, stable and nurturing home. The fostering service has clear targets to recruit foster carers in addition to those welcomed through the regional hub, Foster with North East. Skills for fostering training are provided by the regional hub. However, the recruitment of foster carers has declined since the last inspection. Senior managers are taking steps to increase their reach to potential carers. Supervising social workers in the fostering service complete detailed and

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The experiences and progress of children in care: good

timely assessments and reports of foster carers’ and connected carers’ capacity. These are presented to an experienced and knowledgeable fostering panel for approval. Since the last inspection, support for fostering families has been strengthened to include mockingbird hubs, a community of foster carers and buddying systems, providing a wraparound support service.

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The experiences and progress of children in care: good

27. Newcastle is a member of the regional adoption agency Adopt North East. The service is meeting the needs of most children with a plan of adoption. Recruitment of prospective adopters overall remains a challenge for the service. Consequently, some children are placed through other adoption agencies to help fulfil their plans and prevent delay. When children have a plan of adoption, skilled and experienced workers carefully consider children’s needs in terms of matching them with prospective adopters. Transitions into adoptive homes are well planned and regularly reviewed. The quality of assessments and support for adopters is strong, and quality is assured by the scrutiny of an experienced panel chair and agency decision-maker. Adopters receive good support from social workers and value the training they receive to maximise their family’s future stability.

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The experiences and progress of children in care: good

28. Unaccompanied asylum-seeking children benefit from support from the newly formed, dedicated separated children and young people’s team. Careful consideration is given to children’s health, educational, emotional, religious, social, safety and immigration needs, and this translates into effective plans for children. Action to progress children’s immigration status is prioritised effectively, reducing anxiety and supporting children through this complex process.

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The experiences and progress of children in care: good

29. A small number of children are living in unregistered settings, but only when all other efforts to secure a registered provision have been exhausted. Senior managers have clear oversight of children’s needs and the care they are receiving. Children in these settings are supported to attend or receive education. Senior leaders are reaching out to known and trusted providers to work creatively with them to increase the number of local homes for children and to encourage them to register with Ofsted.

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The experiences and progress of children in care: good

30. When children are subject to the inherent jurisdiction of the court in depriving them of their liberty, and live in unregistered children’s homes, there is strong senior management oversight to ensure that children are living in safe arrangements. These arrangements are reviewed weekly by senior managers with the director of children’s services (DCS) oversight, with stringent efforts made to move children to suitable, registered provision. Inspection of Newcastle upon Tyne local authority children’s services 12 to 16 May 2025 31. Since the last inspection, there has been a very strong focus on listening and responding to the voice of the child. This is enabling professionals to understand children’s lived experiences, hear their views about their lives and circumstances and shape their care plans. Children benefit from committed social workers who know them well and recognise the importance of children needing a trusted adult

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The experiences and progress of children in care: good

in their lives. They visit their children regularly, even when children live outside of the city. This strong relational practice enables social workers to establish very positive relationships with children, enabling them to undertake creative direct work so that they can better understand children’s experiences. Skilled workers engage children in life-story work, which provides an opportunity for children to make sense of their feelings and to help them understand how and why decisions were made about them and their family.

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The experiences and progress of children in care: good

32. The specific communication needs of disabled children are very well understood by social workers. There are very clear transitions in place to ensure a smooth move from children’s social care to adult social care, with planning beginning when children are 14 years old. Children benefit from comprehensive assessments of their needs and risks. Workers advocate strongly for children to help them receive the services that they need, particularly as children reach adulthood.

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The experiences and progress of children in care: good

33. Some children experience significant delay in having their neurodevelopmental needs assessed, and this impacts on the ability to progress children’s plans. From June 2023, and in line with improvements in support since the last inspection, there is now a range of support available for children while they await a diagnostic assessment, primarily from the Future Focus team. This team was established with support and funding from the integrated care board (ICB). The team has an expediated pathway for neurodevelopmental needs assessment for children in care, which ensures those most in need are assessed earlier, reducing waiting time for some children. This wraparound team includes a range of therapists and advanced mental health practitioners, who work with social workers, foster carers and in-house residential home staff to provide consultations and offer support to carers to develop strategies and approaches that are trauma informed. This is

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The experiences and progress of children in care: good

provided to best support the child. Senior leadership challenge is in evidence to address the systemic issues creating the delay.

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The experiences and progress of children in care: good

34. Regular reviews are held that consider children’s experiences and progress of their care plans. Children’s views are included in these meetings, and children are encouraged to attend themselves. Some minutes of these meetings are sensitively written, outlining children’s strengths and achievements as well as their support needs. There is inconsistency in some IROs’ oversight of children’s progress in care. The service has experienced some unavoidable staffing issues, which has impacted on IROs’ capacity.

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The experiences and progress of children in care: good

35. There is a robust and effective response when children go missing from care. This service response has been significantly strengthened since the last inspection. Dedicated, specialist practitioners skilfully engage with children to fully understand push-and-pull factors through detailed return home interviews. The intelligence from these is used to develop high-quality trigger plans and better understand the Inspection of Newcastle upon Tyne local authority children’s services 12 to 16 May 2025 needs and risks to children who go missing. They receive the right levels of support, and skilled social workers quickly identify appropriate interventions that will better protect children from harm.

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The experiences and progress of children in care: good

36. Children are supported to participate in a wide range of leisure and social activities. As a result, many children have fun, make friends and develop a sense of identity and self-worth. Children in care benefit from opportunities to be involved in several Voices for Children groups, which offer chances for children to influence developments in children’s services, such as challenging the use of language of care and being involved with staff interviews. There have been takeover sessions in the Corporate Parenting Board, and the participation team supports children to be heard. It has been identified as an area of focus by senior leaders to strengthen this approach to the child’s voice and participation.

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The experiences and progress of children in care: good

37. Many children in care attend school and are making progress. However, some children are not receiving the right support. Children’s plans and the subsequent oversight of these by the virtual school are not driving children’s educational development sufficiently. There have been some improvements in pupils’ educational achievement in recent years, and schools speak positively about the support they receive from the virtual school. Where attendance is an issue, it is a focus in personal education plans (PEPs). However, there are some instances where the targets in PEPs are not precise or measurable. There is also variability in the quality assurance of these plans.

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improvement to be good

38. The care leavers’ service has been restructured in the last 12 months. This is due to recognition by senior leaders that their care leavers were not getting a good enough service. Frontline management oversight was not providing Leaving Care Support Officers (LCSOs, the local term for personal advisors), with the supervision and direction they needed to best support their care leavers and progress their plans.

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improvement to be good

39. The service previously sat within a very busy children in care team under a single management line of sight. Care leavers now benefit from a dedicated team with service manager oversight and the recent appointment of a team manager. Inspectors identified improvements in some care leavers’ experience, most notably in the past six months.

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improvement to be good

40. Despite the previous management shortfalls, many care leavers have benefited from a committed team of LCSOs who know their young people exceptionally well. Where there is an absence in detailed pathways plans, LCSOs can articulate very well the needs, wishes and experiences of their care leavers. They talk about them with warmth, affection and much regard. They can recount their achievements and are strong advocates for services and resources for their young people. What they have lacked is supervision and guidance to robustly plan next steps for care Inspection of Newcastle upon Tyne local authority children’s services 12 to 16 May 2025 leavers’ futures. Although caseloads remain high, the LCSOs continue to work effectively with care leavers.

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improvement to be good

41. Early preparation for leaving care begins in the children in care teams. Not all social workers have sufficient knowledge of the support that is available to care leavers, specifically the support offered to attend university and accommodation support. When young people transfer to the care leavers’ service, LCSOs are knowledgeable about the local offer and care leavers benefit from their expertise.

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improvement to be good

42. The local offer is well understood by LCSOs and conveyed well to care leavers. LCSOs explain rights and entitlements and advocate very well for their care leavers. However, the website is not presented in an accessible way. There are a wide range of resources available to support young people into adulthood and independence, including dedicated support to help care leavers with the practical and emotional skills required.

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improvement to be good

43. A high proportion of care leavers live in suitable accommodation and are helped effectively to prepare for having their own tenancy through the intensive and practical support provided by LCSOs and from housing support officers. Inspectors also saw evidence of positive joint working with adult social care in the local authority to ensure a smooth transition. It is positive that some care leavers are living in ‘staying close’ arrangements, with the opportunity to be provided with additional help and support. Inspectors were unable to evaluate the effectiveness of these arrangements due to a lack of information in care leavers’ records.

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improvement to be good

44. Care leavers are provided with specific support when they are at risk of harm. Most of these young people benefit from regular visiting and support to meet their individual needs, such as mental health concerns, physical health concerns, substance misuse or exploitation. However, the systems and processes in place are not yet strong enough in driving and guiding practice for the most vulnerable care leavers. Risks are not routinely identified or reviewed in pathway plans. Furthermore, they are not fully explored in regular supervision.

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improvement to be good

45. Senior leaders have been proactive and responsive to the needs of unaccompanied care leavers. Separated young people have the opportunity to live in suitable, bespoke accommodation when this is their identified need. LCSOs maintain regular contact with young people and provide practical and emotional support. While the day-to-day support unaccompanied care leavers receive is appropriate, this does not translate into pathway plans that reflect young peoples’ aspirations and goals. The previous lack of regular and constructive supervision makes it difficult to ascertain whether the support young people receive remains appropriate.

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improvement to be good

46. Care leavers in custody benefit from positive relational practice with their allocated LCSO. They are visited regularly. However, there has been a notable absence of regular, quality supervision to drive plans for these young people on their release, to assist in reducing the risk of recidivism and ensuring a secure base for their future needs to be met. Inspection of Newcastle upon Tyne local authority children’s services 12 to 16 May 2025 47. Most care leavers who are parents are well supported by their LCSO, who offers them a planned and tailored intervention, through the pre-birth team, to assess their capacity and to allow the young person to develop parenting skills.

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improvement to be good

48. There is now an ‘opt out’ rather than ‘opt in’ service for those care leavers post-21 years old, which is resulting in more care leavers remaining in touch with the service and accessing support when they need it. A number of care leavers post-21 are supported effectively to attend university, including with year-round accommodation, with ‘staying put’ arrangements, independent accommodation and extended halls of residence, providing consistency and security at a pivotal time.

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improvement to be good

49. Care leavers are provided with their health records, and they are supported in accessing health services. For those with mental and emotional well-being needs, LCSOs are accessing local charities to support young people with their counselling and emotional health needs effectively. This is alongside support to access GP or other services provided universally.

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improvement to be good

50. The local authority acknowledges that engaging young people into education, employment and training (EET) is not where it would like it to be. Leaders are seeking ways to encourage young people to access EET opportunities. This includes holding careers events and making links with local businesses and education providers.

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families: good

51. The leadership of the council and the corporate executive thoroughly understand the conditions required to deliver good-quality children’s social care. Since the last inspection, collectively, they have sustained, strengthened and improved many services. The investment of resources, joint ambition and cross-council support is improving the outcomes for many children and families in the city.

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families: good

52. The experienced chief executive and lead portfolio holder for children’s services are well informed about the quality of practice and child experience. They hold the DCS to account through high challenge and scrutiny, but also through authentic child-centred and political support. There is clear political and professional accountability for children’s safety and welfare.

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families: good

53. A change of senior leadership with the appointment of an experienced DCS since the last inspection has enabled the continued strengthening of key areas of the service. The DCS is highly visible, and her vision for children and their families is infectious and encourages staff to do their best for their children. The current self- evaluation of practice is accurate, demonstrating that the senior leadership team knows its services and quality of practice very well. Inspectors did not find anything during this inspection that senior leaders were not already sighted on.

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families: good

54. As corporate parents, the council and senior leaders are very aware of their duties. They ensure that corporate parenting has a strong profile across the council and Inspection of Newcastle upon Tyne local authority children’s services 12 to 16 May 2025 partnership. However, there has been a lapse in line of sight to the experience and progress of care leavers. While this has been identified and responded to by senior leaders in the last 12 months, the impact on some care leavers has been that they have experienced drift and delay in their needs being identified and addressed.

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families: good

55. Senior leaders’ line of sight to child and family experience is mostly strong, through their active participation in quality assurance activity, chairing panels, boards and groups. A robust quality assurance regime, with effective use of performance management information, leads to clear improvement objectives that are understood across the service and wider partnership. Reflective audit practice and direct feedback from children and families help senior leaders to measure their progress. Strengthening consultation and using the voice of the child in shaping services are influencing service development.

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families: good

56. Leaders have recently been hampered in their ability to understand performance information. This is due to the implementation of a new electronic case recording system. The roll-out of this system has not been smooth, and some staff and managers have found the system difficult to navigate. Senior leaders have had to take decisive action to implement workarounds and provide bespoke support to staff six months after the roll-out. Senior leaders have increased the number of panels they chair to ensure a firm grip on what is happening for the most vulnerable children.

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families: good

57. Several strategic priorities have begun to be realised and can be seen to be making a positive difference. During this inspection, the strategic priority to understand what life is like for children, and the views of parents and carers, has been in evidence across all teams. This is now an area of significant strength. The provision of advocacy for children through a commissioned service and a dedicated participation team ensures their ongoing involvement in service delivery and consultation.

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families: good

58. Increased investments in sufficiency and commissioning arrangements are ensuring that more children are being cared for closer to their home area. There has been an increase in residential provision. This includes bespoke supported accommodation for separated migrant children, where appropriate for their specific needs.

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families: good

59. Many children and families are receiving innovative and responsive services, such as the Future Focus Team. This team is supported with ICB funding and is a multidisciplinary team. Skilled and trained social workers are providing consultations and undertaking workaround strategies and responses to children with staff and carers, to enable a trauma-informed approach to children in care.

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families: good

60. Children and Families Newcastle is working successfully with families to identify strengths and promote easy access to early help services. Family hubs are providing comprehensive support and outreach within communities. Use of early intervention conversation is a new model of practice in early help, designed to allow early discussions to look at strengths and support networks within families. Inspection of Newcastle upon Tyne local authority children’s services 12 to 16 May 2025 There is an open door for families to return if further or more targeted support is required, intervening early and preventing escalation.

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families: good

61. The ‘EVRY’ plan reflects the council’s values of pride, fairness and ambition for children and families. It sets out how it wants all children in the city to benefit from opportunities they would not otherwise be able to access, such as attendance at cultural events, concerts and sporting events and free travel across the city.

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families: good

62. Effective multi-agency partners work very well together. They have a shared vision and common value base to improve children’s lives. A platform of learning is accessed through outcomes of rapid reviews and child safeguarding practice reviews, multi-agency training and co-delivery of services.

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families: good

63. Ensuring the right environment for workers to practise safely and effectively is an unrelenting focus of senior leaders. The portfolio of the assistant director has been expanded to include oversight of the early help service. This is providing the DCS with a much clearer understanding of the needs and vulnerabilities of communities as difficulties emerge. The care leavers’ service has been separated out from the children in care service and now has a dedicated service manager and frontline manager. This is providing greater management oversight, supervision and support to staff, which is leading to improved service responses and interventions for care leavers.

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families: good

64. Stability and sufficiency in the workforce is an overall strength. Future proofing is prioritised with a forward-thinking strategy using approaches to recruitment such as the use of apprenticeships, an increase in university placements and progression routes. In addition, an ASYE academy is facilitating a strong ‘grow your own’ culture. In line with the social care reforms, leaders are utilising the workforce differently to support statutory work, and this is creating increased capacity for social workers. This has been particularly successful in the disabled children team, and the staff have been very positive about the impact for children and families.

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65. The positive work environment and culture are reflected in low turnover rates and low rates of use of agency workers. Retention is greatly assisted by staff feeling valued and well supported by their managers and their teams. They report that they receive regular supervision, but this does not consistently translate into supervision records to help workers better drive progress in children’s plans.

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66. Workers have access to regular and relevant training, and personal development is prioritised. Workers were very cognisant of the practice model and able to verbalise how this influences their practice. The impact is a cohesive, consistent, skilled and experienced workforce that is committed to improving the lives and experiences of children and their families in the city.

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67. Practitioners spoken with during the inspection are extremely positive about working in Newcastle and report feeling highly valued and well supported. Workers spoken with are proud to work in Newcastle, and many have been in the organisation for a number of years, with some starting as students and remaining. Inspection of Newcastle upon Tyne local authority children’s services 12 to 16 May 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 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 children looked after, safeguarding

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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 . This report is available at https://reports.ofsted.gov.uk/ . Interested in our work? You can subscribe to our monthly newsletter for more information and updates: http://eepurl.com/iTrDn .

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

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