Inspectors praise councils’ services

Nottinghamshire social services department has the potential to be
one of the best-performing departments in the country, according to
a joint review by the Social Services Inspectorate and the Audit
Commission.

The review team was impressed by the council’s fostering and
adoption services, with Nottinghamshire placing a higher proportion
of children with families and for adoption than most other local
authorities.

The improvement in child protection services and the targeting of
family support services also drew praise.

The social services departments at Dudley and Durham were also
found to have promising prospects for improvement.

Dudley’s joint review praises the department’s innovative work with
some client groups, including older people and foster carers. It
adds that Dudley has a stable team of staff with a strong record of
tackling areas of concern.

However, the report highlights that the success of Dudley’s social
services is plagued by limited financial resources.

Durham’s review notes that the department has achieved national
recognition for the quality of its services but that it now needs
to work on providing them in partnership with other organisations.

It finds that most services have improved over the past two years,
but some clients are still waiting too long for an assessment and
are not receiving services that help them to be independent.