Social care · Children's services (ILACS)
Leeds City local authority children’s services
Summary
What we read, and from where
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- Inspection date AI-checked
4 Jul 2025
- Inspectors verified
Catherine Heron
- Overall effectiveness verified
Outstanding
- Name on report verified
Leeds City local authority children’s services
Deep dive
What this report says
In plain English
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Grade profile
Each judgement on its scale, weakest to strongest.
- OverallOutstanding
41% of comparable inspections in the last three years were graded Outstanding (95 inspections).
Tone of the report
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In line with other reports of this type graded Outstanding.
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How the report reads, start to finish
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Strengths
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- They benefit from excellent relationships with consistent social workers who know their children exceptionally well. p.5
- Care leavers in Leeds benefit from excellent trusting relationships with their personal advisors (PAs). p.8
- Leaders are ambitious and are delivering service excellence through highly effective partnership working. p.10
- Social workers are highly skilled and sensitive to children’s vulnerabilities, showing real persistence in engaging children and addressing complex issues. p.4
- Children in care receive excellent support to maintain relationships with people that matter to them when it is safe to do so. p.6
Concerns
Quoted from the report. Tap to see it on the page.
- Where there are concerns that children are at risk of radicalisation or potentially victims of modern slavery and human trafficking, practitioners react quickly and follow the relevant processes to ensure that children receive a coordinated response to reduce risk. p.4
- When children are at risk of immediate harm, their cases progress immediately to locality teams for further action. p.3
- While some children requiring an early help assessment experience a short delay before an early help worker is allocated, practitioners at the front door maintain contact with families to provide advice and identify changing needs, which helps to mitigate the delay. p.2
- PAs and the education and employment team work collaboratively to identify how best to support vulnerable care leavers at risk of not being in education or employment. p.9
Next steps
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What the report dwells on
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Care & placements12
“Management oversight of placement with parents is robust and strong.” p.6
Anatomy of the report
How the report is built, against others of the same type and grade.
- Pages
- 13
- Words of findings
- 4,915
- about usual (typical 4503)
- Reading level
- Hard
- Flesch 37, typical 38
- Average sentence
- 18 words
- Next steps
- 2
- typical 1
- Hedged sentences
- 6%
- “some”, “not always”, “most”…
Where the words go
Full report text
Inspection of Leeds City local authority children’s services
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Inspection dates: 30 June 2025 to 4 July 2025
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Lead inspector: Catherine Heron, 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 children care leavers Outstanding
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Judgement Grade
Children in Leeds continue to benefit from effective services that improve children’s outcomes. An extensive range of well-established early help services meet the needs of many families and prevent concerns from increasing. When children are identified as being at risk, there is an effective response to children.
p.1
Judgement Grade
Children in care and care leavers receive high-quality services. They benefit from stable relationships with their workers, who know them well. There is access to a range of in-house services that promote their well-being and meet their needs.
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Judgement Grade
Leaders are ambitious for children and delivering service excellence. Leaders have an effective line of sight on the quality of practice and understand their service’s strengths and areas for development well. Senior leadership change has been managed well without disrupting service stability. The organisational culture remains a positive one that has an unwavering focus on promoting positive outcomes for children. Leaders have a detailed understanding of the diverse needs of the population and continue to invest, adapt and improve services to meet need. Workforce stability has significantly improved, and this results in children experiencing consistency of worker, enhancing the quality of the child-worker relationship. Inspection of Leeds City local authority children’s services 30 June 2025 to 4 July 2025
p.1
What needs to improve? 1
◼ The quality and accuracy of children’s records to reflect the work that is being completed (enabler 3, national framework)
p.2
What needs to improve? 1
◼ Consistency in the response to all children experiencing neglect (outcome 1, national framework)
p.2
protection: good
1. Children in Leeds who need help and protection receive effective and timely support. Children benefit from an extensive range of well-established and well- resourced early help services. Leaders have invested further in the early help offer by expanding the number of family hubs in the most vulnerable communities of the city. The increased tailored support to children and their families is helping to improve children’s situations.
p.2
protection: good
2. Requests for early help to the ‘front door’ (the first point of contact for families and professionals) are triaged effectively. Practitioners complete formulation conversations with children’s parents, carers and professionals to understand children’s histories and presenting needs. When necessary, early help practitioners visit children to better understand their situations. These initial discussions help families to explore their own solutions and identify services that are best suited to help them. While some children requiring an early help assessment experience a short delay before an early help worker is allocated, practitioners at the front door maintain contact with families to provide advice and identify changing needs, which helps to mitigate the delay.
p.2
protection: good
3. Thresholds are well understood and appropriately applied through the well- embedded practice approach. When children’s needs change, the step up and step down between early help and statutory services occur smoothly. When children require short-term social work intervention, early help workers continue to remain involved until statutory social work is no longer required. This ensures that children have continuity of support and help that is proportionate to their needs.
p.2
protection: good
4. Professionals appropriately contact the front door when they are worried about children. Most contacts are received via telephone conversations that provide a rich opportunity for professionals to discuss concerns and explore the help children may need. Highly experienced social workers screen this information, taking account of the family’s history to understand children’s experiences.
p.2
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 Leeds City local authority children’s services 30 June 2025 to 4 July 2025 Parental consent is well understood, and in most children’s records, is explicitly recorded. Parental consent forms an integral part of parents’ inclusion in decision-making but is appropriately dispensed with when necessary.
p.2
protection: good
5. Detailed checks with partner agencies during contact screening are completed. The addition of education and probation practitioners in the front door has added additional capacity and expertise to better understand children’s situations.
p.3
protection: good
6. Children and their parents affected by domestic abuse receive an effective and timely response. Daily risk meetings involving a social worker, police officer and domestic abuse advisor provide an effective mechanism to triage domestic abuse incidents concerning children. Risks to children and adults are carefully considered and inform the help and support offered.
p.3
protection: good
7. Contact decision-making is timely and proportionate to the nature and level of risk posed to children. Contacts that need more time for enquiries have strong management oversight and clear direction. When children are at risk of immediate harm, their cases progress immediately to locality teams for further action.
p.3
protection: good
8. The emergency duty team (EDT) provides a timely response to concerns out of office hours, ensuring that children receive an effective response. EDT practitioners work in partnership with police and ensure that there is robust decision-making to safeguard children. There is effective and timely liaison and information-sharing between EDT and daytime services. Written records of subsequent action by daytime services are not always comprehensive.
p.3
protection: good
9. Children’s assessments are effective in assessing children’s needs and risk. They are well written and informed by the family history, professional information and the views of parents. Children’s views are captured, and their experiences are well understood, which informs future planning. Some assessments take longer to complete, but children do not wait for support to be provided. Help starts as soon as it is needed. Assessment timeliness has improved in recent months, but leaders recognise more is needed to ensure this continues, and they are exploring creative ways to improve this area of practice.
p.3
protection: good
10. Safeguarding risks to children are identified quickly and are appropriately considered in strategy meetings, which are well attended by relevant partner agencies that share information and agree actions to reduce risks to children. Child protection enquiries are thorough, child focused and lead to appropriate outcomes for children.
p.3
protection: good
11. The timeliness of child protection conferences has fluctuated but is moving on a positive trajectory. When children experience short delays, for most, these are purposeful to ensure parental access and participation. Interim plans identify relevant support to children and families, including visits from social workers Inspection of Leeds City local authority children’s services 30 June 2025 to 4 July 2025 and partner agencies. This ensures that children receive ongoing support and close monitoring of their situations.
p.3
protection: good
12. Child protection conferences are well attended by relevant professionals and the children’s family and are effective information-sharing and decision-making forums. Children’s voices are heard, sometimes through independent advocacy, and they inform care planning. The parent advocacy support service connects parents going through social care involvement with parents who have lived experience of social care and are trained to support others. This initiative empowers parents to share their views and engage more effectively in protection planning for their children.
p.4
protection: good
13. Planning for the majority of children is effective. Child-in-need and child protection plans involve children’s family networks and are reviewed regularly to respond to children’s changing needs. Practitioners work in partnership with families and facilitate family-group decision-making to create plans that are focused on what needs to change and what help will look like for children and their family. Social workers can clearly articulate the contingency arrangements for children should plans not achieve the desired outcomes, but the detail of these arrangements is not always evidenced in written records.
p.4
protection: good
14. Visits to children are purposeful and mostly well documented in children’s records. Social workers are skilled at building strong relationships with families, using a relational and restorative approach. Consequently, they know the families they work with very well.
p.4
protection: good
15. Risks to children outside of the home receive a well-coordinated multi-agency response through the alternative child protection structure that enables practitioners to work holistically with children, recognising parents and carers as protective partners, to tackle risks. Social workers are highly skilled and sensitive to children’s vulnerabilities, showing real persistence in engaging children and addressing complex issues.
p.4
protection: good
16. Children missing from home receive a prompt and coordinated response. Return home interviews allow workers to assess risks to children and understand their experiences. Where there are concerns that children are at risk of radicalisation or potentially victims of modern slavery and human trafficking, practitioners react quickly and follow the relevant processes to ensure that children receive a coordinated response to reduce risk.
p.4
protection: good
17. The unique and diverse needs of children as young carers are recognised and understood. The partnership model to identify young carers is well established and effective. The young carer quality mark in Leeds gives organisations recognition and guidance on how to support young carers. Specialist young carer practitioners are child focused and provide a responsive service to children and their families to ensure that they are provided with the support they need. Inspection of Leeds City local authority children’s services 30 June 2025 to 4 July 2025 18. Appropriate arrangements are in place to identify children in private fostering arrangements. Assessments are completed and visits are regularly taking place to ensure that children are settled, and the quality of care is appropriate.
p.4
protection: good
19. Neglect is identified and responded to effectively for many children. The Multisystemic Therapy for Child Abuse and Neglect (MST-CAN) team delivers intensive support for highly vulnerable children and their families through purposeful interventions. Beyond the MST-CAN team, the response to neglect is not as robust. Assessment tools are not used by all workers, and the planning for a small number of children is not sufficiently clear and is not effecting change. This results in a small number of children continuing to be exposed to neglect.
p.5
protection: good
20. When risks to children do not reduce, decisions to progress to the pre- proceedings stage of the Public Law Outline are timely and appropriate. Letters before proceedings help parents to understand the seriousness of the concerns and what is required to prevent legal proceedings. Contingency planning consistently explores children’s extended family network as alternative carers, so children have secure options of care with familiar people if needed. Family group conferences are routinely offered to parents to assist in family decision- making. Management oversight of pre-proceedings is strong, tracking progress and ensuring timely decisions for children.
p.5
protection: good
21. Children aged 16 to 17 who present as homeless receive a timely and effective response. They are supported to live with their family when safe to do so, or alternatively, they are provided with suitable accommodation, including moving into care.
p.5
protection: good
22. Schools have clear guidance to follow when children are identified as electively home educated or missing education. Children who are missing from education, or who are missing out on education, are tracked to ensure they are safeguarded. There is a determination to encourage children to return to full- time education as soon as possible.
p.5
protection: good
23. The local authority designated officer (LADO) provides a coordinated response to allegations against professionals working with children. The LADO has effective working relationships with most professional agencies, ensuring an effective multi-agency response to safeguard children.
p.5
The experiences and progress of children in care: outstanding
24. Children in the care of Leeds continue to receive an outstanding service. They benefit from excellent relationships with consistent social workers who know their children exceptionally well.
p.5
The experiences and progress of children in care: outstanding
25. Children enter care when it is in their best interests. Care with family members is always the first consideration. Kinship carers progress through assessments quickly so children continue to live within their family when it is safe to do so. Inspection of Leeds City local authority children’s services 30 June 2025 to 4 July 2025 26. The vast majority of children, including disabled children, live in homes that meet their needs with local authority foster carers who provide a high standard of care. There is careful consideration to children living with carers who meet their cultural and identity needs. Where possible, brothers and sisters live together.
p.5
The experiences and progress of children in care: outstanding
27. When the stability of children’s homes is fragile and carers are struggling to continue caring for children, the placement stability team responds quickly and enhances the offer of support to carers. Practitioners provide a range of support to enable carers to continue providing a home and help to avoid children moving unnecessarily.
p.6
The experiences and progress of children in care: outstanding
28. Decisions for children to leave care are thoroughly assessed and well planned. Opportunities for children to return home to their parents’ care are carefully considered and supported by purposeful work by the reunification team. Practice in this area is impressive and delivered by highly skilled practitioners who carry out thoughtful and reflective work with parents to understand their needs, the changes they have made and progress they have achieved. Planning for reunification focuses on what is in children’s best interests and occurs at the child’s pace. Management oversight of placement with parents is robust and strong.
p.6
The experiences and progress of children in care: outstanding
29. Children’s wishes and feelings are central to care planning. Most care plans comprehensively reflect children’s needs and are regularly reviewed in looked- after review meetings to evaluate children’s progress. Although written records are not always detailed, midway reviews ensure that independent reviewing officers (IROs) are very well informed about children’s circumstances and the impact of planning.
p.6
The experiences and progress of children in care: outstanding
30. Social workers thoroughly understand children’s worlds and demonstrate a sensitive and nurturing approach to direct work. Workers invest time in getting to know children; they visit regularly and help children to make sense of their past and understand the decisions for their future. The improved workforce stability means that children do not experience multiple changes of worker, which enables them to develop strong, meaningful relationships with workers they trust. Social workers are highly ambitious for children and encourage them to have goals and dreams that children are motivated to achieve. Children’s accomplishments are celebrated, no matter how big or small, on an individual basis with their social workers and carers and through service-wide celebration events.
p.6
The experiences and progress of children in care: outstanding
31. Children in care receive excellent support to maintain relationships with people that matter to them when it is safe to do so. Family time is actively encouraged, and workers go the extra mile for children to have family time that they really enjoy. Social workers engage children’s family networks extremely well, ensuring children’s connections with their family are maintained as children grow. Unaccompanied asylum-seeking children are supported to reconnect with family after long periods of separation. Social workers show Inspection of Leeds City local authority children’s services 30 June 2025 to 4 July 2025 sensitivity and provide children with emotional support as they reach out to relatives overseas.
p.6
The experiences and progress of children in care: outstanding
32. Unaccompanied asylum-seeking children receive a warm welcome and live in accommodation that meets their needs. Unaccompanied asylum-seeking children are extremely well supported by skilled workers who facilitate an impressive range of activities to reduce children’s social isolation and the impact of traumatic experiences. These activities include regular residential camps, football clubs and trips to other cities. Legal advice is appropriately sought to support decision-making and promote their legal stability.
p.7
The experiences and progress of children in care: outstanding
33. Risks faced by children in care are well understood. Children receive well- coordinated responses to risks of exploitation and incidents of going missing by practitioners who know children well. Return home interviews are routinely offered to understand children’s experiences and to inform disruption plans that reduce risks and episodes of children going missing. The highly effective response is helping to reduce rates of children in care going missing.
p.7
The experiences and progress of children in care: outstanding
34. Children’s physical and health needs are met. Social workers and carers’ insights into children’s health needs mean that they advocate for children to receive the right services that improve children’s health and mental well-being. Children’s health is discussed routinely as part of their care planning. When there are waits for service, alternative resources are identified to provide interim help. Children are supported to access the local authority’s therapeutic team and other services to respond to their mental well-being needs. The impressive therapeutic offer provides children with a timely route into therapy, bypassing extensive waiting times of other services. A range of therapeutically trained professionals, including social workers, psychologists and speech and language practitioners, use a variety of evidence-based practice models that impact positively on children’s emotional well-being.
p.7
The experiences and progress of children in care: outstanding
35. Children are encouraged to engage in education, and many children who enter care are supported back into learning. The virtual school monitors the progress and attainment of children in care and provides a wide range of training for schools. The quality of children’s personal education plans varies. Not all plans contribute sufficiently to identifying and improving the child’s academic progress and achievement.
p.7
The experiences and progress of children in care: outstanding
36. Permanency planning is robust and focuses on children having secure and loving homes. Assessments of kinship carers are comprehensive and detailed and provide assurances that carers can provide safe and suitable care. Kinship care arrangements are strengthened by family group conference plans and the increased support that grows from family decision-making. Kinship carers have access to a wide range of training and support groups where the voice of carers is embraced and used to influence service design. Bespoke support plans enable kinship carers to meet the children’s needs and achieve their potential. Inspection of Leeds City local authority children’s services 30 June 2025 to 4 July 2025 37. A proportionately small number of children live in unregistered settings for short periods. Children are visited regularly, and their views inform care plans. These arrangements are closely monitored by senior managers, including the
p.7
The experiences and progress of children in care: outstanding
director of children’s services, who maintain a rigorous focus on identifying appropriate placement matches close to Leeds in accordance with children’s assessed needs. There are strong quality assurance mechanisms to assess the quality of care provided to children. Providers are encouraged to register with Ofsted. Children move on to registered provisions when appropriate alternative options are identified and suitably assessed.
p.8
The experiences and progress of children in care: outstanding
38. The effective foster carer recruitment strategy has increased the number of carers expressing an interest and being assessed as local authority foster carers. Promotional events have raised the profile of fostering in Leeds. Collaborations between Child Friendly Leeds ambassadors and community leaders from ethnic minority backgrounds have increased diversity within the foster carer community. These events have contributed to breaking down barriers and myth-busting about fostering, generating interest and applications from a wide range of families.
p.8
The experiences and progress of children in care: outstanding
39. Children with a plan of adoption live with adoptive families who meet their needs. Leeds is the host authority for the regional adoption agency (RAA), One Adoption West Yorkshire. Strong relationships between the local authority and RAA ensure good oversight of children who may need adoption through the early notification process and effective support to adoptive carers. While the sufficiency of adoptive families is a challenge, the diversity of adopters has increased, as has the number of families willing to consider early permanence, which has reduced delay for children.
p.8
The experiences and progress of care leavers: outstanding
40. Care leavers in Leeds benefit from excellent trusting relationships with their personal advisors (PAs). The stability of the workforce in the care leavers’ service means that PAs rarely change. These relationships are lasting and nurture young people into adulthood and beyond. PAs know their young people incredibly well and speak with warmth and pride and with a real desire to want the best for them. They are caring and tenacious advocates for young people, and they ensure that care leavers receive the right level of support to meet a wide range of needs and complexities.
p.8
The experiences and progress of care leavers: outstanding
41. PAs are an integral part of young people’s networks, sticking with them through challenging times and experiences. The care leaver service proactively engages harder to reach young people. This has a positive impact on young people’s progress and promotes a culture where young people keep in touch because they have confidence that help is available when they need it.
p.8
The experiences and progress of care leavers: outstanding
42. Care leavers’ experiences of transitioning between children and adults’ services have significantly improved. An adult social worker, based within the care leaver service, closely monitors the progress of assessments and planning for Inspection of Leeds City local authority children’s services 30 June 2025 to 4 July 2025 children with complex needs leading up to their 18th birthday. This oversight helps progress children’s assessments so that their needs are clearly understood as they move into adulthood, helping them to access adults’ services when needed.
p.8
The experiences and progress of care leavers: outstanding
43. The new archway hub is an impressive, well-resourced facility for care leavers to meet and access a range of support services and activities. Young people enjoy spending time in the hub, and there is a positive vibe. The inclusion of care leavers in the hub design gives a real sense of young people’s ownership of the space. The layout offers creative cosy zones that are homely and inviting, displaying young people’s artwork and important information for them. The co-location with the care leavers’ service at the hub means PAs are always on hand for young people to provide advice and practical help, but also to enjoy quality time together and catch up. This increases young people’s opportunities to connect with people and seek support at the right time.
p.9
The experiences and progress of care leavers: outstanding
44. PAs are proactive in ensuring that young people know their rights and entitlements. They have access to relevant documents such as health histories, identification, driving licence, passport and birth certificate. The local offer is accessible, wide-ranging and responsive to the changing needs of care leavers. Young people who live out of area are not disadvantaged by distance and access the local offer with exceptional funding when needed.
p.9
The experiences and progress of care leavers: outstanding
45. Care leavers who are seeking asylum receive excellent support. Specialist, highly skilled PAs fully understand the complex and challenging circumstances of these young people. PAs ensure that young people reach services to address their legal status, promote family time and offer therapeutic support at a time young people are ready. Social opportunities are encouraged, and religious events are celebrated, which bring young people together, fostering a sense of belonging and promoting their well-being.
p.9
The experiences and progress of care leavers: outstanding
46. Care leavers benefit from a wide range of services to support their emotional health. PAs are proactive in securing specialist therapeutic support for young people via in-house and external health and voluntary services. Drop-in sessions, accessible to young people up to 25 years old, offer young people time to talk about their feelings and challenges when they arise. This impacts positively on young people’s well-being.
p.9
The experiences and progress of care leavers: outstanding
47. Care leavers’ aspirations and life goals are central to how PAs prioritise and target their support to young people. PAs and the education and employment team work collaboratively to identify how best to support vulnerable care leavers at risk of not being in education or employment. PAs can clearly articulate the meaningful work that they carry out and the difference that this makes. Pathway plans are completed with young people, reflecting their uniqueness and what matters to them. Some plans are comprehensively written, detailing each target and the tangible support to achieve them. Other plans have less detail, but this does not impact on young people’s progress. Inspection of Leeds City local authority children’s services 30 June 2025 to 4 July 2025 Leaders are aware of this and are targeting work to further develop pathway plans.
p.9
The experiences and progress of care leavers: outstanding
48. Work with care leavers who are highly vulnerable is diligent and targeted. Risks are promptly recognised and addressed effectively. PAs use a range of strategies and creative approaches to engage care leavers, providing swift support, including with young people in custody. PAs work proactively with Prisons and Youth Offending Services, advocating for young people and providing wraparound support that reduces risks.
p.10
The experiences and progress of care leavers: outstanding
49. Care leavers who are parents receive highly effective support from bespoke services that promote their parenting skills and resilience. PAs understand the vulnerabilities of care leavers, but they do not stigmatise them or make assumptions about their parenting capacity. PAs work sensitively with care leavers who are parents and other agencies, showing care and compassion while prioritising the safety of children.
p.10
The experiences and progress of care leavers: outstanding
50. Care leavers predominantly live in suitable accommodation, where they told us they feel safe. Priority housing banding for local housing and reciprocal arrangements with some other local authorities ensure young people live in homes that meet their needs. Young people who choose to remain living with former foster carers thrive in these arrangements, which provide them with stability and continuity. Leaders’ ambition to increase accommodation options even further has resulted in further investment in local property and renovation plans that will increase the number of quality homes for care leavers.
p.10
families: outstanding
51. Senior leaders and members of the council have a determined vision for improving the lives of children in Leeds. Leaders are ambitious and are delivering service excellence through highly effective partnership working.
p.10
families: outstanding
52. Political and corporate support remains strong, which is evidenced in the council’s continued investment in services for vulnerable children. Leaders understand the complex and diverse needs of children in the communities and what this means for children’s life chances and outcomes. These insights inform well-defined strategies and planning to respond to children’s changing needs. Leaders understand their service exceptionally well. Leaders’ self-evaluation of their service is accurate, and they are aware of the areas for improvement identified during the inspection.
p.10
families: outstanding
53. Strong ownership and accountability of service delivery and quality runs throughout the organisation and across the safeguarding partnership. Leaders have excellent relationships with partners. The well-established safeguarding partnership has been further strengthened by the inclusion of education in the structure and executive board. Together, the partnership has clearly defined Inspection of Leeds City local authority children’s services 30 June 2025 to 4 July 2025 priorities that are based on local need, learning from reviews, inspection findings and feedback from children and families.
p.10
families: outstanding
54. Leaders have ensured that services are developing in line with the social care reforms. The expanded family hub offer is reaching more children in areas where need is the greatest. The use of family networks and support to kinship carers is strong throughout the service. Social workers think about family first as carers for children when children cannot live with their parents. These developments are strengthening families and improving outcomes for many children.
p.11
families: outstanding
55. Quality assurance has strengthened and extended leaders’ line of sight. Investment in multi-agency training and increased oversight through audits have contributed to service improvements. Performance and audit findings are regularly monitored and collated. Trends are identified, providing leaders with an in-depth understanding of the areas where practice is stronger and where further improvement is needed. Analysis of performance data supports leaders’ grip on practice and where closer monitoring is required, such as improving initial child protection conference timeliness. Operational managers have improved access to team level data to monitor performance and support practice improvements.
p.11
families: outstanding
56. Leaders evaluate the impact of services by listening to the voices of children, their parents and carers. The incredible parents’ voices group provides a platform for parents with lived experience of working with social care to share their ideas and shape service design. Parents told inspectors they feel listened to by leaders and inspired to effect change.
p.11
families: outstanding
57. Leaders champion corporate parenting, and care experienced is recognised as a protected characteristic. Leaders work effectively with partners to create a child-focused culture of doing the right thing for children and being the ‘best parent’. The appointment of a chief officer for corporate parenting reflects leaders’ strong and active commitment to corporate parenting.
p.11
families: outstanding
58. The effective sufficiency strategy has increased the number of placements for children, starting with quality support for children to remain with family where safe to do so and enabling children to exit care at the right time. Ongoing investment has led to a significant expansion and growth in the number of small group-living homes, residential homes for children with complex needs, foster carers and adoptive parents, providing a greater choice of homes for children.
p.11
families: outstanding
59. Senior leaders ensure that the workforce is highly capable and skilled throughout the organisation. The practice model is well embedded, and staff speak highly of the workforce development offer. Staff are encouraged to improve their skills and complete training that promotes their professional development and improves practice with children and families. Leaders cascade Inspection of Leeds City local authority children’s services 30 June 2025 to 4 July 2025 and embed learning from practice within the organisation and share widely with partners and stakeholders.
p.11
families: outstanding
60. Social workers and practitioners spoke highly about working in Leeds and said the stability of teams has improved. Recruitment is a priority, using various recruitment pathways to increase the diverse workforce. Vacancy rates have significantly reduced because of Leeds’ flexible and creative approach to recruit and retain a strong and stable workforce. This workforce stability means greater consistency of workers for children.
p.12
families: outstanding
61. Leaders and managers are visible, approachable and highly supportive of workers. Supervision of workers is regular and, while the written records of supervision could improve, workers state it is a reflective space for them to explore their own well-being, practice learning and consider the impact of their work and children and families’ experiences.
p.12
families: outstanding
62. Leaders monitor service pressures and add capacity when needed. Workloads can vary but are at manageable levels for the vast majority of workers. Workers prioritise their workload effectively and are confident to seek support when they feel workloads become a challenge. Leaders are committed to reducing workloads further and have a credible plan to achieve this.
p.12
families: outstanding
63. Management oversight of frontline practice is mostly effective, with the right levels of oversight and scrutiny by senior leaders. Children’s written records do not always reflect the volume and quality of work that is carried out, both by the workers and managers. Leaders are already aware of these challenges and are exploring technological ways to increase social work capacity.
p.12
families: outstanding
64. The Leeds practice model is well embedded in practice. Workers embrace the model, championing children and young people’s rights, their well-being and family outcomes. This strength-based relational approach promotes consistency in practice and contributes to the overall effectiveness of the service being outstanding. The supportive organisational culture provides workers with an environment where social work can flourish and keeps children central to everything they do. Inspection of Leeds City local authority children’s services 30 June 2025 to 4 July 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
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families: outstanding
and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It assesses council children’s services, and inspects services for children looked after, 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 . 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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families: outstanding
T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/ofsted
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