Council continues to improve support for children and families, Ofsted reports

Councillor Paul Dixon, the local authority’s Cabinet Member for Children’s Social Care, was speaking following Ofsted’s most recent monitoring visit of the department, which took place last month.

Inspectors looked closely at how the Council responds when concerns are raised about a child, how well social workers understand children’s needs, and how effectively managers check and support their teams’ work.

One of the main improvements highlighted was at the Council’s ‘front door’.

The front door is the first point of contact for anyone worried about a child’s safety or wellbeing, such as teachers, police or members of the public. Ofsted found that this service is now making the right decisions more consistently about whether a child needs support, early help or protection.

Inspectors also praised the way social workers are getting to know children better and capturing their experiences and views in more meaningful and sensitive ways. They noted that early help services are working smoothly to give families timely support before problems worsen.

The most recent visit recognised the cross-council commitment to Children’s Services and that a new permanent Director of Children’s Services is now in post, which Ofsted said has brought a “renewed sense of energy and purpose” to the whole service. Inspectors noted: “Social workers in Swindon are positive about the support that they receive from their immediate and senior managers."

The Council has already invested heavily in making services stronger, including taking on more staff, improving the IT systems that support social work, and providing more training for workers and managers. These changes have already helped the teams supporting children to respond more quickly and effectively.

One further monitoring visit will take place before Ofsted undertakes a full inspection, which is expected late 2026.

Councillor Dixon said the Council is determined to continue improving Children’s Services. He said: “Since becoming Cabinet Member, improving Children’s Services has been my top priority.

“I’m really pleased that Ofsted has recognised the positive steps we’ve taken, particularly how well our teams are now responding when people raise concerns about a child and how social workers are understanding children’s experiences more deeply and sensitively.

“Our staff work incredibly hard and I want to thank every one of them for the progress we’re seeing.

“But we know there is more to do. The areas Ofsted has highlighted, such as how we support children who have been living with long-term difficulties and how we guide families through concerns, are all being tackled at speed.

“We are committing to supporting social workers to have manageable caseloads through further investment in social work posts so we build a consistently strong and stable service that protects children and supports families in the way they deserve.”