Setting

Elaine Allegretti Strategic Director, Children’s and Adults London Borough of Barking and Dagenham Town Hall 1 Town Square Barking IG11 7LU

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Focused visit to Barking and Dagenham Children’s Services

This letter summarises the findings of the focused visit to Barking and Dagenham children’s services on 25 and 26 March 2026. His Majesty’s Inspectors for this visit were Zafer Yilkan and Nicki Shaw.

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Focused visit to Barking and Dagenham Children’s Services

Inspectors looked at the local authority’s arrangements for children in care, with a specific focus on children’s needs for permanence and the experiences of children living in unregistered provision. The effectiveness of permanence planning for children in care was an area for improvement in the last inspection in July 2023.

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Focused visit to Barking and Dagenham Children’s Services

This visit was carried out in line with the inspection of the local authority children’s services (ILACS) framework. The inspectors considered a broad range of evidence from reviewing children’s individual records and discussions with social workers. Inspectors also looked at relevant local authority performance and quality assurance information and spoke with senior leaders, including the Department for Education adviser.

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Headline findings

At the last inspection, in July 2023, the experiences and progress of children in care were judged as requires improvement. Senior leaders have a good understanding of the strengths and areas for improvement for children in care, and they have maintained a focus on service improvement in this area of practice. Revised quality assurance systems, regular audits and thematic deep dives have enhanced senior leaders’ line of sight to practice and performance. This has ensured that most children in care benefit from stable care and long-term relationships with their carers. However, it is taking too long for some children to be formally matched with their long-term carers, causing uncertainty for the children concerned. A small number of children continue to be placed in unlawfully run unregistered children’s homes due to gaps in placement sufficiency. An experienced, well-established and committed senior leadership team is providing stability, vision and direction to staff.

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Headline findings

Store Street Manchester M1 2WD T 0300 123 1231 Textphone 0161 618 8524 enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk www.gov.uk/ofsted Leaders have achieved a marked improvement in workforce stability with the recruitment of more permanent social workers since the last inspection. This is helping children to build and sustain relationships with their social workers. Ongoing investment in additional management capacity has strengthened management oversight and supervision, helping social workers to reflect on their practice and their work with children.

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What needs to improve in this area of social work practice?

◼ The timeliness of decisions to formalise the plan for children to remain living with their long-term foster carers. (outcome 4, national framework)

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What needs to improve in this area of social work practice?

◼ Management and independent reviewing officers’ (IRO) oversight to progress children’s permanence plans within children’s time frames. (enabler: leaders drive conditions for effective practice, national framework)

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What needs to improve in this area of social work practice?

◼ Sufficiency and commissioning of placements for children to prevent the need to use unregistered children’s homes. (outcome 4, national framework)

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Main findings

Most children in care are making positive progress, with a strong, collective focus on their safety, developmental, educational, health and social needs. They receive services that make a positive difference to their lives. Most children live in stable, nurturing homes where they develop strong and trusting relationships with their carers and a genuine sense of belonging.

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Main findings

Permanence planning begins promptly for most children entering care, and takes into account a range of permanence options. Safe reunification of children with their parents is considered and kept under review, and skilled social workers consider what help is needed to successfully return children home when this is in their best interests. This includes practical parenting support from family workers.

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Main findings

Practitioners have a good understanding of children’s needs, family relationships and potential long-term options. However, progressing permanence plans for some children is taking too long, particularly for children waiting to be formally matched with their long-term foster carers. Permanence planning meetings are well attended by relevant professionals, and those involved share sufficient detail to progress children’s permanence plans. However, while there is shared understanding of the importance of permanence, variability in the frequency of these meetings is undermining social workers’ efforts to take plans forward within children’s time frames. This is causing delays and uncertainty for some children in achieving permanence.

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Main findings

Adoption and kinship care are carefully considered for children who are unable to return to their parents. When possible and in their best interests, siblings are supported to remain together, and kinship options are thoroughly explored and revisited as necessary later in children’s care journeys. For children waiting to be matched with adopters, permanence planning meetings take place on a regular basis. This has helped the local authority to achieve a significant increase in the number of children moving in with adoptive families in the last 12 months.

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Main findings

Children’s care plans and other records are comprehensive. Written in a child-friendly manner, they are centred around children’s individual needs and progress, and are regularly reviewed and updated. Children’s voices and experiences are evident in their records.

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Main findings

Children in care reviews are held in line with statutory time frames, more frequently if children’s needs warrant it, and are well attended by partner agencies. Children often attend and participate in their reviews. Independent reviewing officers (IROs) monitor and review the progress of plans, including permanence plans for children. They develop meaningful relationships with children. IRO summaries following reviews are written for children in child-friendly and age-appropriate language. The ‘footprint’ of IROs in midway reviews is not as evident in children’s records. This is a missed opportunity to scrutinise and challenge delays in achieving timely permanence for some children. Contingency planning is not routinely embedded in practice.

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Main findings

Children are supported well by their schools, and by social workers and carers, to achieve their potential in their education. Termly personal education planning meetings ensure children get the right support in school to support their progress. Additional funding, such as pupil premium funding, is considered carefully. Staff in the virtual school play a key part in supporting children’s education and in getting children back into school when necessary.

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Main findings

Children are supported to develop their interests and access a variety of leisure activities and hobbies, such as joining football clubs and Cadets. Social workers promote children’s identity, cultural heritage and diversity. Children are encouraged to attend, celebrate and enjoy cultural and religious events, with additional resources provided to facilitate their participation.

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Main findings

A high priority is given to children’s health needs, including their emotional and mental health needs. A specialist in-house therapeutic service ensures that children have access to emotional wellbeing support at the earliest opportunity. Practitioners routinely complete strengths and difficulties questionnaires to identify and support children who need help, and to help to prevent their needs from escalating. Some children’s initial health assessments are taking too long to complete. Senior leaders are aware of this and are closely monitoring progress with the relevant health agencies.

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Main findings

Children benefit from family time with their parents, brothers and sisters, and other people who are important to them. Social workers work with the in-house Lifelong Links Service to strengthen children’s support systems and networks and help them to re-establish links with family and friends who are no longer in contact with them. This helps to maintain key relationships for children, and to promote their identity and sense of belonging.

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Main findings

When decisions are made for children to return home to their parents’ care, thoughtful transition arrangements and safety planning are put in place. This includes a gradual increase in staying overnight in the family home to help reduce uncertainty for children and to support parents to prepare for their child returning home permanently. Therapeutic interventions for children and their parents support successful transitions and promote stability when children return home. Managers and leaders regularly review children’s progress and adherence to the placement with parents regulations.

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Main findings

Disabled children in care and their carers are well supported. Children’s health and education needs are prioritised. Services are tailored to meet their individual needs. For those approaching adulthood, timely planning and the involvement of adult services ensure a gradual and smooth transition at the child’s pace.

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Main findings

Unaccompanied asylum-seeking children are supported well by social workers and the virtual school. Professionals are sensitive to their past experiences and trauma they may have experienced. They promote children’s cultural and religious needs and links with local communities. A dedicated therapeutic service (HIYA) provides targeted interventions to improve outcomes for these young people. They are supported to develop their independent living skills in preparation for adulthood.

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Main findings

A small number of children are currently living in unregistered children’s homes. Senior leaders have plans to increase placement sufficiency by opening new children’s home provision. In the meantime, work is needed to strengthen commissioning arrangements to source placements in regulated care settings for all children who need them.

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Main findings

There is strong political and corporate support for children’s services. Senior leaders prioritise their corporate parenting responsibilities for children in care, ensuring that children’s voices are heard through a variety of forums and participation events. Senior leaders have developed a meaningful relationship with the children in care council, and this is driving improvements and co-production with children.

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Main findings

A well-developed quality assurance framework provides managers and leaders with a good overview of the quality of practice. Regular audits and thematic deep dives give leaders an accurate measure of strengths and areas that need further improvement.

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Main findings

Progress in the recruitment and retention of permanent social workers, including international staff, has improved workforce stability. As a result, most children have the opportunity to develop trusting and nurturing relationships with consistent social workers who know them well. Practitioners visit children regularly and in different settings where they feel comfortable. Meaningful and sensitive life-story and direct work help children make sense of their identity and experiences. This promotes children’s sense of belonging and stability. An increase in management capacity is supporting social workers to receive regular supervision from their line managers. Supervision records are sensitively recorded for children and help practitioners to reflect on their work with children and progress their plans. Recommendations from audit activities are not always followed through with practitioners in front-line supervision to ‘close the loop’.

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Main findings

Social workers said that they have manageable caseloads. They access a range of training and learning opportunities, such as life-story work training, a practice educator programme, a management development programme and specialist child sexual abuse training. This is helping to build expertise within the workforce and reduce reliance on externally commissioned services.

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Main findings

Social workers said that they enjoy working in Barking and Dagenham. They feel valued and feel that their diversity is celebrated; they described senior leaders as visible, accessible and supportive.

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Main findings

Ofsted will take the findings from this focused visit into account when planning the next inspection or visit.

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