The Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills (Ofsted) has published a letter summarising the findings of the Children’s Services Monitoring Visit which took place on 11 and 12 February 2025. You can read the letter in full on the Ofsted website.
Inspectors found that “children and families who live on the Isles of Scilly now benefit from improved services to meet their needs” but cautioned that “there is more to do to bring about and build on the fundamental change required to achieve long-term sustainability.”
This was the third monitoring visit to have taken place since the ‘inadequate’ judgement was received in July 2023, when concerns were identified in a number of areas. These areas of concern are addressed individually in the letter, evidencing clear progress since the last monitoring visit and the appointment of an “experienced, determined and skilled” Interim Director of Children’s Services in May 2024.
During this visit, inspectors found that: “Children in need and child protection visits happen at a frequency in line with children’s needs. Social workers spend meaningful time with children understanding their interests and observing their family life and experiences at home and in the community [and] workers endeavour to speak with children alone to ascertain their wishes and feelings.” They also observed that “visits are thoughtfully and comprehensively recorded in a child-focused manner.”
Crucially, no children were found to be “at risk of unassessed harm” during this visit and inspectors praised the “solid backing of the full council and corporate partners, who are under no illusion about the gravity of children’s services’ position.” A need was identified to further develop structures for long-term sustainability, as there is “still much more to achieve for children to receive a consistently solid service.”
The introduction of the youth hub group was found to have been “successful,” “well-attended” and “well received by children and families alike, providing children with a space to meet each other and enjoy activities.”
Anne Coyle, Interim Director of Children’s Services, Council of the Isles of Scilly said: “This letter from Ofsted is extremely welcome and reflects a huge amount of dedication and resilience from the Children’s Services team, wider Council and our partner organisations, both on and off the islands. I’d like to take this opportunity to thank everyone for their continuing efforts to ensure that children and families on the islands receive a consistent level of service from now on. I am particularly glad that children and their families and carers, are now seeing the benefits of the progress we have made in recent months. We know there is still much to do, but we have shown that fundamental change is possible on the islands, and we are all eager to build on these early improvements.”
Councillor Joel Williams, Lead Member for Children, Council of the Isles of Scilly said: “The findings from the recent inspection were not unexpected given how hard everyone has been working to turn things around, but they are extremely welcome. It is a great relief to know that children and families are now able to access improved services to meet their needs. However, now is not the time for any of us to get complacent, as it is clear that we are only at the very beginning of our improvement journey. I am grateful to Anne for the guidance and leadership she has shown during a very difficult period in the service’s history – and I look forward to focusing on what needs to be done to continue the “upward trajectory” recognised by Ofsted.
Russell Ashman, Chief Executive, Council of the Isles of Scilly said: “The validation from Ofsted that we’re moving in the right direction is a significant boost for the whole authority. I hope the community will share in this sense of accomplishment and continue to work with us to keep improving the services children and families rely on. I would particularly like to thank the Children’s Services team for ensuring that Ofsted were able to have such confidence in these findings. It’s fantastic to see everyone’s efforts translating into real differences to children and families on the islands.”
