An increase in council-run residential care has led to improvements for looked after children in Shropshire, according to a new Ofsted report.

Shropshire Council bosses say they are “extremely pleased” after Ofsted published the findings of a focussed inspection of the authority’s arrangements for children in care following a visit in July.

Ofsted had singled out some areas for improvement within the looked after children service during an inspection two years ago, including the number of local placements and the response to the emotional health needs of children in care.

However the inspectorate says that while recruiting foster carers remains challenging, the authority has helped more children with complex needs to return to live closer to home through the development of council-run residential children’s homes and increased use of Shropshire Council’s ‘Stepping Stones’ therapuetic team.

The authority has opened four new residential children’s homes since 2020, and now operates seven in total.

They also praised the authority for investment in frontline support staff and the strengthening of the council’s senior leadership team in the area.

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“Most children live in stable and caring homes which meet their needs. They are well supported by carers who know and understand them,” the report found.

“Most children in care benefit from strong and trusting relationships with their social workers, who know them well and understand their needs. Purposeful direct work is undertaken by social workers.

“While sufficiency challenges continue, in particular in the recruitment of foster carers, the development of in-house residential provision and the input of Stepping Stones has enabled more children with complex needs to return to live closer to home.”

Ofsted say Shropshire Council needs to improve in several areas, including improving the speed at which care orders are discharged when children are successfully re-united with their parents, and developing better oversight of how children’s plans are progressed.

They added that “greater consistency” was needed in the Independent Review Officer service, which reviews care arrangements to ensure the needs of children are being met.

“For some children who are settled and living in their long-term placements, there is a delay in formal matching or establishing special guardianship arrangements, or discharging orders when children are safely living with their parents on care orders.

“Leaders are aware of this and some progress is now being made, but many children are waiting too long for statutory intervention to end.

“Much greater consistency is needed in IROs playing an active role, ensuring that children’s needs and plans are being progressed and, if they are not, that they are escalated effectively.”

Tanya Miles, Executive Director of People at Shropshire Council, said the authority was “very proud” of its carers and staff, but added that the authority would continue to address areas of improvement found by Ofsted.

“We are delighted that Ofsted has recognised the progress we have made in improving our services for children [who are] looked after,” she said.

“We are not complacent, and we know that there is more work to do to ensure that all children looked after have the best possible outcomes. We are committed to addressing the areas for improvement identified by Ofsted and to continue to build on our strengths.”