Improving outcomes for children and young people across Peterborough was one of my top priorities when I took control of the council in May.
I’m pleased to report that our Children’s Services department is making great strides as it looks to make improvements after being rated as inadequate by Ofsted inspectors in November last year.
A recent visit by His Majesty’s inspectors in July painted an improving picture and highlighted several key areas of progress, as well as pointing out what we still need to do.
During the visit, inspectors focused on the experiences and progress of care leavers aged 18-25, especially those facing extra challenges like unstable housing, not being in school or work, or involvement with the criminal justice system.
They noted that senior leaders have been dedicated to improving outcomes for these young people, even with financial and political challenges. They have increased management capacity and hired more personal advisers (PAs) to support young people. These improvements are already making a positive difference, which is fantastic to see.
The local offer for care leavers has also been enhanced with input from care leavers and staff. Schemes like the House Project is being developed to provide a base for accessing services and helping care leavers gain new skills. Inspectors observed early signs of improvement, especially in how PAs are consistently reaching out to harder-to-engage young people.
However, there is still much work to be done to get the service into a better position, with the report citing areas to address such as support being inconsistent for all young people and ensuring there are enough staff and resources.
Inspectors found that the council’s self-evaluation is accurate and supported by effective auditing, but including more feedback from young people and routine consultation with partners could further strengthen the impact.
Going forwards, we will continue to focus our efforts on delivering meaningful change and improvements to Children's Services and will keep you updated with progress.
We’ve worked closely with external experts, staff, and care leavers to refocus the service. Financial resources have been committed to add much-needed capacity and resources. While there is still work to be done, we are confident that our ongoing efforts will lead to even better outcomes for our young people, and we remain dedicated to ensuring that every care leaver receives the support they need.
In further news, I am delighted that we’ve had a positive response to the Shaping Our City consultation, giving residents, businesses and groups the chance to help determine our city’s priorities for the next three years.
To recap, we launched the consultation to review the council’s Corporate Strategy so that we can deliver our priorities within the budget available. We’re doing this now with the challenges facing local government becoming increasingly difficult, particularly the huge financial strain caused by rising demand for services and interest rates remaining high.
Quite simply, the environment in which we are operating is challenging and ever changing. Any business must change and adapt to survive in those conditions, and we are no different.
This consultation is a chance to have your say on our draft priorities and to also learn more about our financial position and the difficult choices we must make each year to set a balanced budget.
I would like to remind everyone to please get involved and have your say, with the consultation running until Sunday 27 October. A number of meetings will be taking place across the city, details of which can be found at www.peterborough.gov.uk/shaping-our-city
It’s now less than a month until one of the biggest events in our calendar, the AEPG Great Eastern Run.
The much-anticipated event, organised by Good Running Events and supported by the council, takes place on Sunday 13 October and is set to attract thousands of participants and spectators.
To help the event run smoothly, volunteers are still required to carry out key roles on the day, including route marshals, course and signage set up and race pack preparation.
If you can spare the time, volunteering at the Great Eastern Run is a fantastic experience and full training will be given, you can find out more here.
Finally, the summer is sadly coming to an end, with this week’s wet weather rather enforcing that point!
However, there’s still plenty going on around the city, with Nene Park set to be transformed into a Bavarian wonderland this weekend, for the annual Oktoberfest event.
If you love German beer, food and entertainment than this event will be right up your street, or strasse I should say!
For more information about Oktoberfest and to book tickets visit www.nenepark.org.uk
This week I'm going under the knife for a new hip so next week's column will come from Deputy Leader, Councillor Mohammed Jamil. So in the words of Bugs Bunny, that's all folks!