Haringey has achieved a ‘significant milestone’ with Ofsted awarding the council a ‘Good’ rating overall for its services to children and young people – a first in the borough’s history.
Ofsted inspectors visited the borough in February 2023, when they assessed the care, help and protection given to children and young people and their collective experiences of this support. They also examined what is being done by leaders to improve services.
They found that – since 2018 – many services in Haringey have been “transformed,” with most children now receiving “good support, when they need it, from the right people” – including from social workers, personal advisers, early help workers and staff in schools.
The summarised findings from Ofsted’s report (Tuesday 11 April 2023) also outlines how leaders know what is happening in Haringey and “want to learn and do the right thing for children”.
Commenting on this improved grading for the borough, the Leader of Haringey Council, Cllr Peray Ahmet, and the Local Authority’s Chief Executive, Andy Donald, said in a joint statement: “We are really pleased that Ofsted have graded our Children’s Services ‘good’, this is a watershed moment for Haringey.
“We have worked hard over many years to build a strong team and put children and young people at the heart of what we do.
“This judgement is testament to the hard work and professionalism shown by our dedicated staff and the positive impact they have on the lives of children and young people. It is a turnaround that we are all rightly proud of and shows we are moving in the right direction.
“We, along with our partners, will continue to set ourselves high standards moving forward and the journey towards excellence will continue.
“This is a platform on which we will build, not the final destination.
“The report highlighted a need for us to have a stronger focus on children in care to ensure we can support them to achieve the best possible outcomes. We are fully committed to doing this and will be implementing a programme of further service improvements in order to achieve this.
“We recognise this is a significant milestone, but we are not complacent, and work will go on at pace to ensure we provide excellent services to benefit our most vulnerable children and young people.”
You can read the full Ofsted report by clicking here.