Council to continue relentless drive to improve Children’s Services

Councillor Paul Dixon made the commitment after the Council’s Cabinet discussed the latest monitoring visit by Ofsted at their meeting last Wednesday (10 Sep), which noted the ‘positive progress’ being made since the Children’s Services department was judged to be ‘inadequate’ two years ago.

Government inspectors carried out their fourth monitoring visit in June making particular reference to improvements that have been made to the support provided to children in care.

The strength of political and corporate support for Children's Services in Swindon was also described as strong and the Council’s investment in strategic management capacity was also highlighted.

But the report from Ofsted reviewed by councillors also described how the Council needs to speed up its plans to increase the number of local care placements so less children in care are living out of the Borough and a considerable distance from their home.

To begin addressing this, councillors agreed at last week’s meeting to approve plans to spend £700,000 to buy and develop a property in Swindon to house local children who might otherwise be placed outside of the Borough.

As of July 2025, the Council had 310 children in its care, with 42 per cent of those children living 20 miles outside of the Borough, away from their friends, family, schools and social groups.

Ofsted will conduct two further monitoring visits before carrying out a full inspection of Children’s Services next summer.

Councillor Dixon, Cabinet Member for Children’s Social Care, said councillors and council officers are remaining laser-focused on improving services across the board to improve the rating of the Council’s Children’s Services.

“When we took control of the Council two years ago one of the first things we did was invite Ofsted in to inspect Children’s Services because we knew there were real problems,” explained Cllr Dixon.

“Since then, we drew up a transformation plan overseen by an independently-chaired improvement board, and we’ve been addressing all the recommendations within the Ofsted report.

“But trying to transform a failing Children’s Services department is a bit like turning an oil tanker – it takes time.

“Each monitoring visit has recognised steady progress, but we are not resting on our laurels and our dedicated and committed colleagues in Children’s Services are working tirelessly to get us in a position where we improve our rating when Ofsted come back in next year to do another full inspection.

“It is incredibly important we get this right, not just for the children and families who rely on us, but so we get to grips with the huge financial challenges children’s social care place on the Council’s budget.”