Harrow’s political leaders have clashed over the reasons behind the recent Ofsted downgrade of the Council’s Children’s Services to “Inadequate.”
The Department for Education issued the council with a rare improvement notice following the inspection, which marked a drop from “Good” ratings in both 2017 and 2020 under previous Labour administrations.
At a recent Cabinet meeting, Harrow Labour leader Councillor David Perry said he was “disappointed and concerned” about what he believes are failures to address the issues that led to the downgrade. He questioned both the Portfolio Holder for Children’s Services, Cllr Hitesh Karia, and the Leader of the Council, Cllr Paul Osborn, about their administration’s role in the outcome.
Cllr Perry pointed to a “service redesign and restructure” in 2023, carried out by the Conservative administration, as a potential cause of the downgrade. He also expressed concern about similar changes proposed in July’s Cabinet report, warning they could lead to “another drop in performance.”
Harrow Council proposed a £1.5m cut to the department in February 2023, though the exact amount cut has not been disclosed. Cllr Karia said he “stands by” the decisions made in 2023 despite the “Inadequate” rating.
Cllr Perry said: “While I am of course glad that Harrow Council has outlined its improvement strategy in response to its Children’s Services Ofsted downgrading and support for our hard-working staff, however I remain concerned that the lessons that led to this failure of Harrow’s children and young people, particularly care leavers, have not been learned. For the Portfolio Holder to claim that he ‘stands by’ the decision to implement a service redesign that, in my opinion, directly led to this ‘inadequate’ rating, indicates that they have failed to learn from their mistakes.
I question the commitment of this administration to address resident concerns over this downgrading when it stands by service adjustments which I believe to have directly contributed to this ‘inadequate’ rating.”
Responding, Cllr Paul Osborn, Leader of Harrow Council, said: “I have tried to avoid politicising this judgment from OFSTED as it is incredibly important that we give care leavers the best chance in life and most support we can.
“However, if Labour are trying to blame the ‘service redesign’ in 2023 I need to correct the record.
“Under the then Labour administration in 2020, following the Ofsted ILACS they made the decision to amalgamate two teams, support for children in care under the age of 18 years old and support for those over 18 ‘Care Leavers’. This was not supported by frontline staff who felt the skills required for working with children and young adults were different and something they did not support. Alongside these changes there was a reduction in the number of Personal Advisors (support for care leavers) in favour of social workers, who had a combined caseloads of children and young adults.
“The amalgamation of services to children in care under the age of 18 years old and for Care Leavers resulted in a workforce who did not have the skills or experience to work with young adults (Care Leavers 18 – 25 years old). The reduction in Personal Advisor posts resulted in higher caseloads for social workers and the few Personal Advisors who were retained in the service.”
Chris Mitchell is the founder and editor of Harrow Online, Harrow’s leading local news platform.
He launched Harrow Online in 2010 as a Facebook page sharing local news and information. Since then, it has grown into a trusted source for breaking news, crime, council decisions, planning, transport, business and community stories across the borough.
Harrow Online reaches hundreds of thousands of readers each month and has a social media audience of more than 200,000 followers.
For news tips, press releases or enquiries, contact Chris at info@harrowonline.org.
