MORE needs to be done to improve children's services, Wiltshire Council has admitted, while emphasising that Ofsted says the authority is on the right track.

Ofsted spent four weeks carrying out an assessment of services for children in need of help and protection, children looked after and care leavers.

The resulting report includes recommendations to continue improving services for children while setting out areas where Wiltshire Council is already making a positive impact.

The inspectors' report notes in the last 12 to 18 months the local authority has made determined efforts to improve services for children and young people and these have been “well driven and purposeful.”

But inspectors said there is still more to do as services and practice are not yet consistently good.

Ofsted recognised there are no widespread or serious failures that left children being harmed or at risk of harm.

Its report points to a number of strengths including child protection enquiries being “timely and robust,” effective information sharing, and “outcomes for the majority of children in care improving through good quality education and leisure provision.”

Inspectors judged that social workers know their children well.

The report adds: “The number of care leavers in employment, education and training has improved and is now good, with effective use of apprenticeships across the council.”

Inspectors have made a series of recommendations to move services from Requires Improvement to Good.

These include ensuring care leavers are provided with a copy of their health histories and that social care practice takes account of diversity.

Other recommendations are to ensure all families and children who need early help are supported, improve the quality of supervision for staff and target the recruitment of adopters for children with complex needs.

Laura Mayes, cabinet member for children’s services, said: “We are pleased that in the areas which are most important, inspectors recognised that there are no widespread or serious failures that leave children being harmed or at risk of harm.

“There is no room for complacency and it’s vitally important we provide our children with the very best services. This report recognises the good work already ongoing and also points out areas where we can do better.

“Through our own rigorous assessments we were already aware of these areas. The plans we have in place will address those points.”

Carolyn Godfrey, corporate director, said: “We are continuing to work with all agencies to ensure our vulnerable children in Wiltshire receive the appropriate support they need.

"The inspectors recognised key areas where our work is having a positive effect and we are already working on those areas identified as needing improvement to ensure we provide the best for our most vulnerable children and young people.''

The report notes the importance of children having access to a permanent social worker and recognises the work the council is already undertaking in this area.

Wiltshire Council has been running a high-profile recruitment campaign for permanent social workers as well as committing to lower caseloads and ensuring clear career pathways are available.

Since the recruitment campaign began last year, 71 social workers have taken up post at the council with a further 17 due to join imminently.

Children’s services cover a wide range of areas and the council is continuously developing its services to provide the best quality services for children.

Both the council and the Wiltshire Safeguarding Children Board are effectively implementing detailed action plans relating to child sexual exploitation (CSE).

These include raising awareness and offering key training to taxi drivers, fast food outlets and other places where people may recognise the signs of CSE.

The report recognises this well co-ordinated, multi-agency response to dealing with CSE and states: “Young people now receive a timely and effective response to their need for protection from sexual exploitation.”

Inspectors have recommended that the impact of the CSE screening tool which assesses the extent to which young people are at risk of exploitation, is now evaluated to further improve practice.

The report recognises young people in care have a strong voice through the Children in Care Council. Through the council young people regularly meet to help shape policies and decisions related to their services.

Aspire House, which provides a dedicated provision for children in care, has been instrumental in ensuring young people and children have support to move into further education and employment.

The report states: "Senior managers and leaders have taken and continue to take decisive and effective action to create a stable workforce, strengthen management oversight, establish effective partnerships with other agencies and drive up practice improvements."

The council is committed to continuing these actions to ensure all services are good.

'Requires Improvement to be Good' is an Ofsted judgement which requires a number of actions to be taken to move to a Good rating.

Wiltshire Council says it is implementing a series of actions which will ensure the necessary improvements are made to ensure all services are rated as good.

The Ofsted report can be found at reports.ofsted.gov.uk/local-authorities/wiltshire