Press Releases
Partnership working provides 'good' services (PR 978)
Services for children and their families in Ealing were praised in a new report published today, following an independent inspection of local services in the borough.
The Joint Area Review (JAR), a multi-agency inspection of services for children and their families, has given the borough the second highest rating, concluding that Ealing provides 'good' support to ensure children and young people achieve their full potential.
Government inspectors found that 'the council and its partners have clear ambitions for improving outcomes for children and young people in Ealing. The capacity of the council and its partners to improve further is good'.
The judgement was based on 'a good track record overall, good leadership and management and a sound knowledge of current strengths and areas for development'.
As part of the JAR, inspectors met with children, parents and carers, officers and elected members as well as professionals from Ealing Primary Care Trust, West London Mental Health Trust, Learning and Skills Council, colleges, police, probation and voluntary and community sector groups.
They also conducted an online school survey encouraging more than 350 pupils from across the borough to share their views.
Among their key findings inspectors noted that:
- the Council works very effectively with its partners to ensure that children and young people enjoy life and achieve well
- there are good preventative services in place to improve the health and well-being of children and young people, with primary immunisation rates better than in similar authorities
- there is good multi-agency work to reduce bullying, discrimination, anti-social behaviour and domestic violence in the borough, with a good range of supportive programmes to enable children and young people to develop socially and emotionally, and to manage change and cope with difficult periods in their lives
- a strong commitment by the Council and its partners has led to good participation of children and young people in decision-making, with more than 8,500 children and young people contributing their views to the Children and Young People’s plan
- planning and co-ordination of 14 to 19 education and training, led by the Council, is very good and this has lead to a higher than average number of young people involved in employment, education or training and to improved attainment at Key Stage 4
- achievement by looked after children is better than the
national average and there is good progression to further and
higher education.
Councillor Ian Gibb, Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Children's Services, said: "The positive outcome of the review is a testament to the dedication and hard work of all the people who work on behalf of children and their families in Ealing.
"We are delighted that inspectors have identified so many examples of good quality services provided right across the borough. The report provides a clear indication that we are heading in the right direction and we are confident that working closely together, with our partners, we can continue to make a difference to the lives of children and young people."
Notes for Editors:
- the Joint Area Review (JAR) is a multi-agency inspection that looks at how well all of the agencies and services across the borough work together to provide for children and young people who grow up in Ealing borough
- the review looked at council services, including education and social services; health services; police and probation services; and publicly funded services provided by voluntary and community bodies
- the Inspection team was comprised of seven inspectors from six inspectorates including: Office for Standards in Education (Ofsted), Commission for Social Care Inspection (CSCI), Audit Commission (AC), Health Care Commission (HC), Adult Learning Inspectorate (ALI), Her Majesty Inspectorate of Probation (HMIP)
- inspectors focused on the experiences of children and young people in Ealing measured against five areas outlined in the Every Child Matters agenda which include: being healthy, staying safe, enjoying and achieving, making a positive contribution and achieving economic well-being
- the JAR uses a rating system of outstanding, good, adequate or inadequate and the borough was awarded a 'good' rating in all five areas
- the results of the JAR are also used in the children and young people element of Ealing Council’s Comprehensive Performance Assessment (CPA) which is used to evaluate the performance of all councils.