Ofsted inspection – July 2025
In July 2025, Leeds City Council Children and Families services were subject of an inspection from the Office for Standards in Education (Ofsted). The inspectorate rated the council overall as outstanding for the impact of leaders on social work practice with children and families, for the experiences and progress of children in care, and for the experiences and progress of care leavers.
The council was rated as ‘good’ in relation to the experiences and progress of children who need help and protection.
The inspection report stated that ‘children in Leeds continue to benefit from effective services that improve children’s outcomes. An extensive range of well-established early help services meet the needs of many families and prevent concerns from increasing. When children are identified as being at risk, there is an effective response to children.’
Inspectors highlighted senior leaders and members of the council: ‘have a determined vision for improving the lives of children in Leeds. Leaders are ambitious and are delivering service excellence through highly effective partnership working.
‘Political and corporate support remains strong, which is evidenced in the council’s continued investment in services for vulnerable children. Leaders understand the complex and diverse needs of children in the communities and what this means for children’s life chances and outcomes. These insights inform well-defined strategies and planning to respond to children’s changing needs.”
The inspection report (this link goes to a pdf of the report on the Ofsted website) highlighted:
- Leaders are ambitious for children and delivering service excellence, with an organisational culture ‘that has an unwavering focus on promoting positive outcomes for children.
- Safeguarding risks to children are identified quickly and are appropriately considered in strategy meetings, which are well attended by relevant partner agencies that share information and agree actions to reduce risks to children. Child protection enquiries are thorough, child-focused and lead to appropriate outcomes.
- Social workers are highly ambitious for children and encourage them to have goals and dreams that children are motivated to achieve.
- The new archway hub is an impressive well-resourced facility for care leavers to meet and access a range of support services and activities.