Shropshire Council is proud to announce that following a recent visit by Ofsted, inspectors have rated its children’s services ‘outstanding’.
The report, published today (Tuesday 12 August 2025), scored the overall effectiveness of the council’s children’s service as ‘outstanding’ – the highest score that can be achieved.
Shropshire Council’s children’s services senior leadership team
Councillor Ruth Houghton, Shropshire Council’s Cabinet member for social care, said:
“We set out with a vision to bring love back into the system and it’s great to see that this has been demonstrated through our practice and commitment to the children and young people of Shropshire.
“Through everyone’s collective hard work and determination, we have not only demonstrated this vision in practice but have also achieved outstanding results. For us as a service and council, but most importantly for children and young people in our community.
“A huge congratulations to everyone who has worked so hard to make this happen.”
The inspection held over a three-week period, included detailed case work analysis, data review, and interviews with partners, children, and families, and assessed the service across four key areas including:
- The impact of leaders on social work practice with children and families – outstanding
- The experiences and progress of children who need help and protection – outstanding
- The experiences and progress of children in care – outstanding
- The experiences and progress of care leavers – good
- Overall effectiveness – outstanding
This achievement reflects significant progress since the overall good judgement secured in 2022 and Ofsted focused visits undertaken in 2023 and 2024. It also builds on the current ratings of our six children’s homes rated good and outstanding.
Ofsted’s findings and judgement have recognised this organisational achievement and highlighted the dedication of the council’s staff, children and young people and their parents and carers, and the ongoing commitment all parts of the council have to children, young people and their families.
Councillor Heather Kidd, Shropshire Council’s Leader, said:
“Getting an ‘outstanding’ rating is fantastic news. It is a testament to the remarkable care and continued dedication our staff demonstrate to the children and young people we serve daily.
“We welcome Ofsted’s recognition of our significant and long-standing investments in working towards this achievement. Resulting in us being able to deliver a service where children and their families feel warmth, respected, cared for and safe.
“We remain committed to building on this success and continuing to be curious and creative about how we can sustain and further improve our services for children and families.
“A huge thank you to every single member of our children’s services staff, council services that have supported this area and to our partners, for their unwavering commitment.”
Some of the strengths and achievements from the report are noted below.
- Children in Shropshire achieve positive outcomes and demonstrate measurable progress due to effective services that comprehensively address their needs and mitigate risks.
- Leaders have cultivated a culture of ambition and continuous improvement. All areas of service are characterised by many areas of excellence, compassion, and a resolute focus on outcomes. Listening to children, understanding their lived experiences and acting on their views are strongly embedded in practice.
- Children benefit from highly effective early help delivered by skilled professionals who identify and respond swiftly to emerging concerns.
- Managers have embedded a culture of professional curiosity and rigorous practice within Compass. This provides a firm foundation for high-quality assessment and targeted intervention.
- Social workers in the assessment, case management and court teams make good use of research to inform their understanding of the impact of abuse and to help parents understand professional worries for their children.
- Relationship-based practice shines through children’s records.
- Family support workers and the highly effective Stepping Stones service provide practical and therapeutic support to help parents develop safe and appropriate parenting skills. Their work complements that of social workers in achieving positive change.
- Disabled children receive highly personalised support from social workers who know them well.
- Children in care in Shropshire receive an outstanding service that significantly improves their life experiences and outcomes. The edge-of-care service, Stepping Stones, works proactively and creatively alongside social workers, parents and extended family members to prevent the need for children to enter or to remain in care wherever possible.
- IROs build relationships with children and craft review minutes in a way that thoughtfully reflects each child’s voice, helping them to feel seen and heard. The IRO footprint is clearly evident in children’s records, including regular visits to children between reviews, ensuring that children’s views continue to inform and shape their care plans.
- Foster carers feel well supported and valued by a responsive and ambitious leadership team.
- Care leavers report feeling safe and secure in their living arrangements, including those placed outside Shropshire. They highlight unwavering support from their personal advisers (PAs), valuing deeply the enduring, trusting relationships they have developed with them over several years, and describing their PAs as reliable sources of guidance, assistance and reassurance.
- Children’s social care is led by a highly experienced and credible director of children’s services (DCS), whose leadership is both visible and influential. Working closely with the senior leadership team, she has established a strong and ambitious culture where children are consistently regarded as ‘our children’ and supported to feel genuinely loved and cared for. This child-centred ethos is embedded across the workforce and strongly reflected in the commitment of the wider multi-agency partnership.
Tanya Miles, Shropshire Council’s executive director, added:
“I am immensely proud of the outcome of this inspection, which reflects the inspiring dedication and commitment of our staff who show up every day to support children and families in Shropshire.
“It was particularly heart-warming to hear that inspectors said that they could see and feel the love we have all worked so hard to bring back into the system.
“By treating our children and young people with respect, love and trust and with the right amount of encouragement we can inspire them to dream big, build relationships and connections that matter and together with kindness and a sense of belonging we can do great things.
“However, we can’t do what we do by working in isolation, and we recognise the collaboration and contribution of other services; our fantastic schools, police and health colleagues, and the voluntary and community sector – thank you.”
Please read the full Ofsted report here.
