A SEVEN-POINT ‘Action Plan’ to improve City of York Council’s Children and Young People Service has been approved by its top councillors.

The move, by the council Executive, follows government inspectors saying the council department ‘requires improvement to be good’ after an inspection in March.

Ofsted reported that the quality of children’s services in York had declined since 2016 and improvements were not being made quickly enough.

Some children remained in neglectful situations for too long due to “over-optimism” about the progress made by some families. A lack of foster carers and the quality of social workers’ evidence to court were also highlighted by inspectors.

The wellbeing of a small number of children in unregistered children’s homes was also raised as a concern in the report.

The council also needed to get a better understanding of why children go missing and to reduce the number of repeat ‘missing episodes’.

Following the Ofsted report, City of York Council announced it would draw up an Action Plan outlining how it would improve matters, which it would then submit to Ofsted.

A draft plan was shared with members of the council’s Children, Education and Communities Policy and Scrutiny Committee, who had the opportunity to comment on the action plan at a meeting in June.

Children and young people with care experience also had a say in how the plan was developed.

The council says the plan sets out how improvements will be made in seven areas of Children’s Social Work.

They include the consistency of written records so that they provide an accurate account of decision-making for all children.

The council will also look at the quality of assessments to ensure that they consistently inform care planning.

It will also assess the effectiveness of social work supervision in progressing plans for children and addressing practice shortfalls.

The plan also demands better analysis of return home interviews, the council continued.

It will also highlight responses to children aged 16 and 17 who present as homeless.

The pace of planning for children in unregistered children’s homes is also raised.

Children’s influence and attendance at the corporate parenting board is another issue the council says features in the action plan.

Cllr Andrew Waller, who replaced Cllr Ian Cuthberston as Executive Member for Children, Young People and Education, following the Ofsted report said: “Work to improve children’s services has been progressing at pace, despite the funding and demand pressures facing these services right across the country.

“The approved action plan has ambitious deadlines and has been developed with the input of partners, and, most importantly, children and young people with care experience.

“It will provide us with an opportunity to accelerate this improvement journey and demonstrate our commitment to this work, to ensure that every child in York receives a better start in life.”