CORNWALL Council’s children’s social care services have been rated as ‘Good’ in the most recent Ofsted inspection — putting them in the top 25% of children’s services in the country that have been inspected under this tougher new inspection framework.

Only 12 local authorities have improved to ‘Good’ under this inspection regime and Cornwall is the only authority rated as ‘Inadequate’ between 2010 and 2011 that has now improved to ‘Good’.

The final report from the team of 12 inspectors published on June 27, gave the council an overall rating of ‘Good,’ with four of the key areas of the inspection also being rated as ‘Good’ — Children in Care and Permanence; Adoption; Care Leavers; and Leadership, Management and Governance.

The inspectors said: “Children’s services in Cornwall are good. A stable and dedicated senior management team, led by an experienced Director of Children’s Services, has worked steadily and purposefully to implement systemic change to services for children and young people in Cornwall. In doing so, they have created a culture of learning, support and challenge in a professional environment that has enabled social work to flourish.”

Jack Cordery, head of service responsible for children’s social care in Cornwall, said: “This achievement is down to the dedication, hard work and skill of staff working on the front line, many of whom go way beyond what is expected of them to help and protect the most vulnerable children of Cornwall. It is also down to strong partnership working and it is good that the inspectors recognised this.”