Children's Trust to come under Ofsted scrutiny

The independent trust will be under the spotlight of regulators next month

By Sarah Ward

Photo by Luke Pennystan on Unsplash

Ofsted is expected to make a full inspection of the county’s children’s trust next month.

Director of children’s services at North Northamptonshire Council Anne Marie Dodds made the announcement at the meeting of the executive advisory panel for education, skills and employment on Friday after the shadow children’s services member Cllr Leanne Buckingham expressed concern about oversight of the trust.

Northamptonshire Children’s Trust was set up on government orders in November 2020 after a series of failings in the department when it was under the control of the former Northamptonshire County Council.

The department had a severe shortage of social workers and management came under criticism from government-appointed children’s commissioner Malcolm Newsam who said he found chaos in the referral section of the service when he was sent in during 2019. Hundreds of children who were in need of help did not have a dedicated social worker as they …