Bracknell

Children’s services across Bracknell Forest have been judged to be good by inspectors.

The Joint Area Review (JAR) rated Bracknell Forest as grade three, good, which means services in the borough consistently deliver above minimum requirements.

It is a single coordinated inspection of all Bracknell publicly funded services for all children and young people within a local area. It replaces the separate inspections of local education authorities, social services, connexions and provision for 14-19 year olds.

This inspection ranges beyond just what the Bracknell Council does and includes, for example, health and police services.

The JAR looks at how services are improving the lives of children and young people. It also examined the leadership and management of these services and the way we work together to support children and young people to:

* Stay safe
* Be healthy
* Enjoy and achieve
* Make a positive contribution
* Achieve economic well-being

These are the five ‘Outcomes for Children’ set out in a national programme being driven by the government, called Every Child Matters.

Main findings from the JAR included

* The contribution of local services to providing a safe environment and improving outcomes for Bracknell children and young people in need of safeguarding is good. Key services are provided promptly when needs are identified and are managed well. There is an effective Local Safeguarding Children Board (LSCB) and a good range of family support is available.
* Services for looked after children are good. There is a strong emphasis on matching resources to individual children and young people’s needs and recognition of the need to improving the range of foster care placements available.
* Partnerships work well together to provide good services to improve the outcomes for children and young people with learning difficulties and/or disabilities. The needs of children and young people with learning difficulties and/or disabilities have high priority in strategic planning.
* The quality of Bracknell child and adolescent mental health services is good. Some excellent partnership arrangements provide early intervention and promote emotional well-being in the community. There is adequate, and improving, access to a suitable range of specialist services.
* The quality of provision for education and training post-16 is adequate. Collaborative working has increased the variety of provision recently and the achievements of young people from 16 to 19 years of age have improved.
* The quality of youth work in Bracknell Forest is good; young people enjoy taking part and those that participate gain a fair range of skills from capable staff.
* The management of Bracknell children’s services is good. Increasing commitment to partnerships and integrated working and a strong focus on the important priorities have produced good results in many key areas. Ambitious leadership, good financial and workforce management provide good capacity to improve outcomes further.

Separate inspections took place of the Youth Service and the Youth Offending Service which also came out well. Both were judged at least good in most aspects.

Tony Eccleston, Director of Bracknell Education, Children’s Services & Libraries said: I am very pleased that the JAR inspectors recognised that the Council and its partner agencies are providing good services to children and young people.

”The report recognises that we have come a long way in getting services to work together closely and the effects on children and families are there to be seen.

We shall act on the advice of the inspectors and shall try to involve children and young people even more in shaping services to meet their needs.”

Cllr Gareth Barnard, Executive Member for Bracknell Children’s Services, said "I would like to congratulate all staff involved in children’s services for this excellent inspection report.

The Council works very hard to make sure that children’s services are making a good contribution to the lives and achievements of its residents.

This is clearly shown in the JAR findings which rightly highlight the Council’s good work for children and young people.”

Bracknell Forest Borough Council