SOCIAL services in York have been given the thumbs-up by inspectors.

City of York Council's social services directorate has been awarded a "good" or two star rating in national performance figures published today.

It is the third year running that the city's social services have achieved the two star rating in a Whitehall review of all local authority social service directorates.

The results are based on a national set of performance indicators, and have been published by the Commission for Social Care Inspection (CSCI), which took over the role from the Social Services Inspectorate (SSI) in April this year. The award recognised that most children and adults were being served well by social services and that the prospects for improvement in both areas were promising.

The inspection showed improvements in services compared with last year with the Adult Services Section now serving "most" rather than "some" people well.

Children's Services continued to serve most people well but, according to CSCI, the prospects for improvement had fallen from "excellent" to "promising".

But Jim Crook, director for community services, said this was merely techincal - reflecting a need to introduce new systems and procedures for monitoring information within the department, rather than a lack of capacity for improving services. Mr Crook said: "The results are actually very encouraging and show that performance in Adult Services has improved and that Children's Services is continuing to serve most people well. The result is testament to the hard work and dedication of our staff who work round the clock to deliver high-quality services.

"The overall message is that services are getting even better and will continue to improve in the future."

The quality of the council's children's services was also highlighted in an independent government inspection of the department in 2003, which saw the service ranked in the top ten in the country.

:: Didn't we do well

Areas in City of York Council's social services department that earned the council the praise of government inspectors:

Adult services

Significantly reducing the number of delayed discharges from hospital

Improvements in supporting more people at home rather than at residential or nursing homes

Improving the speed at which services are accessed

Children's services

Establishing a children's trust board which brings agencies together in the city

Shortlisted for Beacon status for work with young people

Establishing an integrated children's system to share information.

Updated: 11:45 Thursday, November 18, 2004