Rated Inadequate by Ofsted in 2020 and Good this year, Luton's children's services will now help other councils improve, under a DfE programme.

Luton’s children’s services will start helping other councils to improve their social care for children. The Department for Education has picked Luton Council for its Children’s Social Care Improvement Teams programme, the council announced on 11 September.

Six years ago the same service was rated Inadequate by Ofsted. The council expects its first partnerships with other councils to begin in October.

What the programme is

The DfE set out the scheme in its implementation plan for the children’s social care reforms. Councils were invited to apply. The teams will be drawn from councils with “the expertise, leadership capability and capacity” to support others.

Their job is to work alongside other councils as they put the government’s reforms into practice. That includes the Families First Partnership programme and the national framework for children’s social care.

Luton is not the only council chosen. Durham County Council announced its own selection on the same day. Durham said it would give “intensive support” to councils judged Inadequate by Ofsted. City of York Council announced its appointment on 14 September.

The council has not said which councils Luton will work with, or how much staff time the role will take.

Six years, three inspections

Ofsted’s reports on Luton’s children’s services, all on its provider page for the council, show the change:

Inspection Overall grade
January 2020 Inadequate
July 2022 Requires improvement to be good
January 2026 Good

Luton children’s services: Ofsted overall grade, 2020 to 2026 Ofsted judged Luton’s children’s services Inadequate after its January 2020 inspection, Requires improvement to be good after July 2022, and Good after January 2026. In September 2026 the Department for Education picked Luton for its Children’s Social Care Improvement Teams programme. From Inadequate to Good, then helping others Ofsted overall effectiveness grade for Luton’s children’s services, by inspection Jan 2020 Inadequate Jul 2022 Requires improvement to be good Jan 2026 Good Sep 2026 Picked by DfE to help other councils Sources: Ofsted inspection reports on Luton local authority children’s services (2020, 2022, 2026); Luton Council, 11 September 2026. Graphic by Luton Daily.

2020. Inspectors found “widespread and serious weaknesses”, meaning “too many children in need and in need of protection do not receive the help they need at the right time”. Help and protection was graded Inadequate.

2022. The next full inspection found “tangible and significant progress”. Children in need of help and protection, and children in care, were both graded Requires improvement to be good.

2026. The latest report, from an inspection between 19 and 30 January and published on 10 March, graded the service Good overall. It gave these grades:

  • impact of leaders on social work practice: Good
  • children who need help and protection: Good
  • children in care: Good
  • care leavers: Requires improvement to be good

Inspectors credited the move to locality-based family help services. That followed Luton being named a Families First for Children pathfinder in April 2024. They also said leaders had “worked diligently to attract and retain staff”, giving families more consistent workers.

The work still to do

The Good grade was not a clean sheet. The same report lists three things to improve:

  • the quality of plans and oversight for children on supervision orders
  • timely approval and support of kinship carers
  • the quality and consistency of support and pathway planning for care leavers

On care leavers, inspectors said much of the work was under way but it was “too soon yet to see the full impact”. Personal advisers’ caseloads had come down, but most were still “relatively high”.

What the council said

Cllr Umme Ali was Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Children’s Services when the council made the announcement, and called it “a hugely proud moment for Luton”.

“Six years ago, we were a service that needed significant improvement and support,” Cllr Umme Ali said. “Today, we are being asked by Government to use the expertise we have developed to help other councils improve their services for children and families.”

The statement credited staff, partners, families and “councillors from across the political spectrum”. The council’s leadership changed three days later, when Liberal Democrat Cllr Amjid Ali was elected Leader. The new Cabinet had not been named when we checked on 17 September.

What it means for you

  • The inspection covers the help your family would get. Ofsted graded help and protection, and care for children, as Good. Luton’s front door for concerns about a child is its multi-agency safeguarding hub, which the report describes.
  • Care leavers are still the weak spot. If you are a care leaver, or support one, Ofsted’s report says pathway planning is not yet consistently good. You can raise concerns with your personal adviser or through the council’s complaints process.
  • You can read the full inspection. The 2026 report is free to download from Ofsted and runs through each part of the service in detail.

Sources