The journey to ‘outstanding’ revealed in the first Ofsted interview podcast

Earlier this summer North Yorkshire became the first local authority children’s services to be judged ‘outstanding’ across the board by Ofsted, with inspectors citing the stability and focus on learning as core strengths.

Speaking to Community Care in the first of its new series of podcasts examining social work chiefs’ reflections of their latest Ofsted results, the council’s director of children’s services Stuart Carlton reflects on the outcomes from the inspection and what’s next for the council.

Listen now to hear from Carlton how:

• North Yorkshire council’s workforce has remained stable with manageable caseloads for social workers despite an ethos of not using agency staff;
• New initiatives were embedded but with an eye on keeping the “basics” in check;
• The senior leadership team maintains oversight over performance and communications to staff.

More on North Yorkshire council’s ‘outstanding’ Ofsted judgment

• Stability at heart of council’s across the board ‘outstanding’ Ofsted judgment
• Practice quality, not audit: one council’s journey to outstanding