The Children and Young People's Scrutiny Committee of Trafford Council met on Tuesday 25 August 2026. The primary focus of the meeting was to discuss the response to the recent Inspection of Children's Services (ILACS) and the subsequent improvement arrangements. This included a presentation on the findings of the inspection and the development of an improvement plan.

Response to the ILACS Inspection and Improvement Arrangements

The committee was scheduled to receive a presentation regarding the findings of the Inspection of Local Authority Children's Services (ILACS) conducted in June 2026. The report pack indicated that the inspection resulted in an Inadequate judgement for The impact of leaders on social work practice with children and families and The experiences and progress of children who need help and protection. The experiences and progress of children in care were judged as Good, while the experiences and progress of care leavers were rated as Requires Improvement to be Good.

The report detailed that the inspection framework now includes three practice judgements: Experiences and progress of children who need help and protection, Experiences and progress of children in care, and Experiences and progress of care leavers. A judgement on the Impact of leaders on social work practice with children and families also assesses leadership at all levels. The report highlighted that if any of the three practice judgements are deemed inadequate, leadership is automatically considered inadequate.

The inspection involved meetings with over 100 practitioners, 14 young people and family members, 6 foster carers and adopters, and 10 stakeholders and partners, with over 400 children's written records sampled.

The report outlined nine specific recommendations for improvement identified by Ofsted, which are being incorporated into the improvement planning. These include:

• Quality of contacts, timeliness, and allocation response.
• Timeliness and response to children at risk of significant harm.
• Quality and impact of safety planning.
• Response to 16- and 17-year-old homeless children.
• Quality, consistency, and impact of management oversight.
• Leaders' understanding of the effectiveness and impact of practice.
• The identification and response to young carers.
• Timeliness and recording of children's health assessments.
• Quality of transitions and pathway planning for children leaving care.

Areas of strength noted in the report included the skill, commitment, and passion of the workforce, with many areas achieving workforce stability. Staff were described as knowing their children well and having trusted relationships. The Relational Practice model was observed in action, and a positive culture where staff feel supported and value the training offer was noted. Political and corporate support for Children's Services was described as strong, with a commitment to providing children and families with the best start in life. Strategy meetings were reported as well-attended and making appropriate decisions, with child protection investigations being comprehensive. Planning was effective at all stages, including contingency planning. Pre-proceedings and care proceedings work was identified as a strength, with children benefiting from effective assessment and interventions. Specialist services such as SHINE (complex safeguarding service) and Kindle Outreach were also highlighted as strong.

The report also detailed the Department for Education's (DfE) new Children's Social Care Improvement and Intervention Framework, which from 1 July 2026 moved to a single, strengthened intervention model. This approach involves an Expert Adviser working alongside the Local Authority. Trafford's Expert Adviser, Mr Andy Couldrick, commenced work on 4th August. The report indicated that a Children's Improvement Team would be appointed to work alongside local authorities to build capability and embed sustainable improvement.

Key dates and milestones included the requirement to share the Improvement Plan with Ofsted within 70 days of the report's publication (10th November 2026). An action planning meeting with Ofsted was scheduled for 22nd September 2026. Ofsted would also undertake monitoring visits, with the first visit's focus to be advised in September.

The report detailed ongoing work to develop and progress the Improvement Plan, including mapping and reviewing the existing Ambitions for Children plan. Actions to strengthen front door arrangements were underway, responding to a reported 60% increase in contacts in June 2026 compared to June 2025, and a 31% increase for the first six months of 2026 compared to the same period in 2025. Analysis indicated an increase in complexity, with a contact to referral rate of 30% compared to the Northwest average of 16.5%.

Actions to strengthen decision-making and management oversight included increasing resources within the First Response Team (FRT), developing new dashboards for visibility and transparency of contact and referral allocation, and weekly meetings with the Director of Children Services and Head of Service. A task and finish group was established to review the use of an online portal to improve the quality and efficiency of contacts and referrals. Negotiations were underway for Peer Support from another Local Authority regarding front door activity. The new partnership Levels of Need had been soft-launched, with a full rollout and implementation plan in development.

The report also addressed the identification and support for young carers, with a meeting held with the CEO of Trafford Carers' Centre. Consideration was being given to whether a standalone Young Carers contract would be beneficial, with the current contract running until March 2027.

Leadership and governance changes were being progressed, including the recruitment of an interim Director of Children's Services (DCS) and permanent recruitment. A review of children's governance and reporting arrangements across a number of boards was to be implemented. Work to strengthen the Trafford Safeguarding Children's Partnership (TSCP) was continuing.

The report also touched upon workforce matters, noting that morale had been impacted by the inspection outcome. A review of the terms of reference for the Investing in our People Board had been undertaken, and its membership strengthened. A three-year programme of work to stabilise and sustain the workforce had five priority areas: Grow Talent Pipelines, Improve Recruitment Pace, Accelerate Agency Conversion, Improve Marketing and Social Media Presence, and Retention and Succession Planning. Business cases had been developed for a 'Stabilisation and Make Safe Plan' and a revised approach to supporting newly qualified social workers.

The committee was asked to note the contents of the report, test progress, seek assurance, and identify any matters requiring escalation. The report also included the full Ofsted Inspection of Trafford Local Authority Children's Services report from June 2026, detailing the inspection dates, lead inspector, and judgements.

The meeting also included a supplementary agenda item, which was a presentation regarding the ILACS Inspection response and Improvement Arrangements. This presentation was scheduled to include an introduction of the Expert Advisor supporting the Improvement Plan, an overview and update on actions from the ILACS report, the development of the improvement plan, including leadership, accountability, and governance, next steps including key dates and milestones, and the role of scrutiny in the development and delivery of the improvement plan.