The Children and Young People Scrutiny Committee were scheduled to meet to discuss Children's Services complaints, the recent Ofsted inspection, and the special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) update. The committee was also expected to review the minutes from their last meeting.

Ofsted Inspection of Children's Services

The committee was scheduled to receive a report on the Ofsted¹ standard inspection of Children's Services in Bury. The inspection, which took place over three weeks in June 2025, resulted in an improved overall judgement for Bury, moving from inadequate to requires improvement to be good . The report also graded the leadership provided by the council and within Children's Services as good .

The report noted that:

far more children are receiving services that are making a positive difference to their lives and helping to ensure that they are safe and well cared for than was found at the time of the last inspection.

The report also highlighted areas for continued improvement, particularly in the quality of social work practice, planning, supervision, and management oversight.

The committee was informed that Bury Council needed to submit an action plan to Ofsted by 5 November 2025, detailing how it would address the areas identified for improvement. The report also noted that the improved grading meant that Bury would move from having monitoring inspections two or three times a year, to a cycle of up to two focused visits, or a focused visit and a Joint Targeted Area Inspection, in between standard inspections, with a standard inspection expected in around three years.

SEND Update

The committee was scheduled to discuss the local area's response to the published SEND inspection and receive a monthly update on the situation.

Following a SEND inspection by the Care Quality Commission² and Ofsted, widespread failings in services were identified. The inspection highlighted the need to improve outcomes for children and young people with special educational needs and identified six priority actions and three areas for improvement. As a result, Bury Council was issued with an Improvement Notice.

The committee was to be informed that a Priority Impact Plan (PIP) had been created with stakeholders, including parents and carers. The PIP is a strategic plan for SEND, outlining key milestones and performance indicators for the next 18-24 months, and is published on the council's local offer website.

The report also stated that Bury Council had applied for Intervention Support Fund (ISF) funding from the Department for Education (DfE).

The committee was also scheduled to hear about monitoring arrangements, including 'deep dive' activities and 'stocktake' visits facilitated by the Department for Education and NHS England. A stocktake visit had taken place in July 2025, and the key findings noted were:

• Progress against PIP: actions being delivered within agreed timelines
• Leadership & Collaboration: stronger relationships and genuine collaboration
• Voice of Children & Young People: meaningful engagement with young people's views
• Impact & Outcomes: focus shifting from planning to demonstrating tangible impact
• Statutory Compliance: most phase transfer reviews completed within statutory timelines
• Workforce Development: comprehensive workforce strategy in development

Areas for continued focus were identified as:

• Embedding improvements into everyday practice
• Strengthening impact measurement and data use
• Expanding communication and engagement
• Overcoming workforce capacity and workforce challenges

A letter from the Department for Education and NHS England following the stocktake visit in July 2025 was included in the report pack. The letter noted encouraging progress in implementing the PIP and a shared commitment to making lasting improvements to SEND services.

The letter also included feedback on the six areas for priority action and three areas for improvement identified in the SEND Ofsted-CQC inspection report.

Children's Services Complaints

The committee was scheduled to discuss reports about complaints relating to Children's Social Care Services for the periods April 2022 to March 2023, and April 2023 to March 2024.

The report pack included annual complaints reports for 2022-23 and 2023-24.

2022-2023 Complaints

Social Care Teams received a total of 118 complaints during the 2022/23 financial year. 42 of these were resolved at the informal stage, and 66 were investigated as Stage 1 formal complaints. 10 complaints were received via MPs/Councillors, and 2 complaints were escalated to the Local Government Ombudsman (LGO).

The report noted a small downward turn in the compliance of timescales for responding to complaints within ten working days.

Most of the complaints received (83.3%) were from parents/carers of children.

2023-2024 Complaints

Social Care Teams received a total of 117 complaints during the 2023/24 financial year. 11 of these were resolved at the informal stage, and 106 were investigated as Stage 1 formal complaints. 9 complaints were received via MPs/Councillors, and 8 enquiries were received from the Local Government Ombudsman (LGO).

The report noted that compliance for responding to complaints within ten working days was met less than 50% of the time, with around a quarter of responses provided after the deadline.

Most of the complaints received (79.6%) were from parents/carers of children, including foster carers.

2024-2025 Complaints

The report pack also included the Children's Social Care Annual Complaints Report 2024/2025. This report stated that a total of 135 complaints were received across all stages, with 7 still open at the end of the year. Of the 111 complaints received at Stage 1, 108 were closed during the year, and 3 were withdrawn. Of the 19 complaints received at Stage 2, 8 were closed during the year.

The report stated that the biggest proportion of complaints received came from parents of the children, with the second highest portion being from other relatives or friends of the family.

The four most common themes of complaints were the conduct of a member of staff, the quality of service provided, delays in the provision of service, and communication.

Of the 111 stage 1 complaints, 15 were upheld, 42 were partially upheld, and 47 were not upheld.

The report also provided a breakdown of complaints by team, timescales and performance, and types of complaints at stages 2 and 3.

The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman (LGSCO) received a total of 88 complaints in relation to Bury Council and investigated 18 complaints listed under Education & Children's Services during the reporting period. Two of these complaints were upheld, with the Council at fault with an injustice.

The report also included examples of compliments received by Children's Social Care, such as:

Big thank you for all your help, you came into lives and actually listened to what I had to say before making any decisions

The report concluded with key learning points from the complaints received and reflections and key priorities for the future.