THE council has praised the commitment of its children's services department after a positive inspection report from education watchdog Ofsted.

The findings of a review by regulator have been summarised in a letter which commended senior leaders and the support that Oldham children have been receiving throughout the pandemic.

The report was published after a focused visit where inspectors looked at arrangements for children in need, including those who are subject to a child protection plan.

Cabinet member for children and young people at the council, Cllr Eddie Moores, said: “We have a committed team who work tirelessly to continually improve how we protect our young people in Oldham and I’m glad that this new report shows we’re heading in the right direction.

“Despite the difficulties Covid-19 has brought we’ve maintained focused on keeping children safe whilst also improving the quality of social work practice in Oldham.

"This report has shown that our work has been making a real difference to children’s lives and that reflects how far we’ve come as a service.”

During the inspection, Ofsted found that children in Oldham are seen regularly by social workers who know them well.

This has continued despite various lockdown restrictions and an increase in child protection plans.

Where these plans occurred they found an appropriate level of oversight was taking place on their progression.

When children were at risk of harm they found timely responses in effective and purposeful social work which lead to improvements in children’s outcomes.

For children living in a crisis on the edge of care, a well-coordinated multi-agency response was recognised.

Social workers themselves were found to be well supported both formally and informally by their managers.

The council also acknowledges that more work needs to be done to make improvements.

READ > 'Clear focus on keeping children safe' in Oldham amid pandemic challenges, report finds

Cllr Moores added: “We know more work needs to be done to ensure we maintain a consistently high quality of practice across social care and plans are in place to address this.

"We’ve seen an increased demand on our services during the pandemic and we’re investing heavily in our social care workforce so we can meet that demand.

“I’m proud of the way children’s services has been reflected in this report.

"We’ve shown that we’re committed to supporting our most vulnerable and we understand who needs our help.

"I’ve offered my heartfelt thanks to our brilliant social workers for achieving the high standards of care that have been shown.

“Work will continue so we can improve where we need to and maintain where we are already doing well so that we can ensure every young person in Oldham gets the best possible start in life.”