There are signs of some improvements, Ofsted said, but concerns have been raised about a lack of child protection plans and delays in transition planning
A North London council has begun work to improve its children’s services after it was told to ‘Improve’ by the Department for Education, according to a recent Ofsted report. However, capacity issues and lengthy wait times mean some families are still waiting longer than they should for support.
The education watchdog undertook a third monitoring visit of Harrow Council’s children’s services department in June after it was found to be ‘Inadequate’ following a full inspection in January 2025. The latest visit focused on the “experiences and progress” of disabled children supported by the service.
The report highlighted that the leadership team has since become “more stable” and developed a clear understanding of the areas that require improvement, whilst also implementing “well-considered plans” to improve experiences for disabled children and their families. Despite this, some children are still experiencing “unnecessary instability” and may miss opportunities to grow up in a family setting.
Harrow’s children’s services currently support 71 children who are subject to child in need or child protection plans, or are children in care, alongside a further 70 children receiving support packages who do not require a social worker.
Inspectors noted that social workers “spoke with warmth and passion” about the children and shared a “genuine pride” in the progress the children have made. Political leaders were said to “remain committed to improving the service and continue to invest in the service “to support sustainable change”.
The director of children’s services is working collaboratively to bring “stability and a clear, improved focus” to the service”, according to Ofsted. This has helped enable the leadership team to get a good understanding of the areas requiring improvement and have “already begun implementing actions” to address them.
However, the report continued to raise concerns about “capacity pressures” within the service, which results in some children experiencing delays in getting support, and they “do not always receive the right help at the right time”.
In addition, the length of waiting times for Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) assessments “delay the identification of need and access to appropriate interventions”, meaning some children and families are waiting longer than they should for the necessary support.
Further concerns were raised about a lack of child protection plans and delays in transition planning for children to move into adulthood. Care plans are also not always updated promptly to reflect children’s current circumstances and needs, reducing “the effectiveness of care plans as working documents to support effective planning for children”.
The report adds: “Very few children supported by the disabled children’s team are subject to child protection plans. While this visit did not identify any children living in harmful situations, the limitations of most current assessments mean that practitioners may not always have a sufficiently comprehensive understanding of children’s wider safeguarding needs.
“In addition, social workers have not received recent training in key safeguarding themes, including neglect, domestic abuse, parental substance misuse and parental mental ill health. This may reduce practitioners’ ability to recognise and respond effectively to emerging risks.
“Transition planning into adulthood is not consistently initiated early enough. Although the transition service responds promptly once referrals are received, referrals are not always made in sufficient time to allow effective preparation. As a result, transition plans are not always sufficiently developed or embedded before children reach adulthood, limiting opportunities for a well-planned transition to adult services.”
A spokesperson for Harrow Council said: “It is encouraging to see Ofsted recognise the progress being made. This gives us confidence that the work underway is moving us in the right direction. While our focus remains firmly on continuing to improve support for children, young people and families, we are grateful for the continued commitment, care and professionalism of our staff.”
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