Ofsted has reported back on Cheshire East Council’s latest Monitoring Visit conducted in April 2026.
In 2024 Ofsted Inspectors judged the Cheshire East Children’s Service INADEQUATE, triggering the issuing of a formal “Improvement Notice” and a long-term process of monitoring visits to ensure the delivery of essential service improvements.
Earlier this year, just weeks before Ofsted’s fourth Monitoring Visit, the Children and Families Committee were assured that “we are ready for Inspection”. However, having now received Ofsted’s April report, published on 1st June 2026, it seems those assurances may have been premature, leaving many with a sense of deja vu!.
Cheshire East Council published their own media release following the Ofsted publication on the same day, demonstrating an odd mix of ‘congratulatory spin’ and an understated acknowledgement of the significant work that still remains to be done,
Councillor Laura Crane (LAB), cabinet member for children’s services at Cheshire East Council said:
“This report shows the strong progress we’ve made since the 2024 inspection and recognises the momentum we are building. Hearing our care leaver ambassadors describe their role as life changing, and the difference they feel they are making to others, is incredibly powerful and inspiring.“We are proud of how far we’ve come, but we are equally clear that we are on a continuing journey. We remain fully focused on building consistency and delivering the high-quality support every care leaver deserves..”
Cllr Jos Saunders (CON) Opposition Spokesperson for Children and Families welcomed the improvements but highlighted the on-going concerns that means the Improvement Notice remains in place, explaining that:
“The Council’s press release does not reference the fact that Inspectors still find the care leavers service variable (the very area which was judged inadequate in 2024) and it does not mention the fact that capacity and management instability have impacted and continue to impact the pace of improvement in the care leavers service.”
“This Labour-Independent administration have overseen a service which has been run by far too many temporary staff in senior positions. The Officers are doing their best (and we thank them for their dedicated work), but there are only so many hours in the day and whilst it is laudable that some progress has been made, there is still much to be done.”
“Good political leadership involves realistically acknowledging the scale of remaining weaknesses not simply ‘cherry-picking’ items of good news to spin!”
The full Ofsted Report published 1st June 2026 can be found on the following link ⬇️
https://files.ofsted.gov.uk/v1/file/50303200
———————————————————
The 2024 Ofsted Report highlighted the following sinificant weaknesses in the Council’s Children’s Services and can be found in full on the link below ⬇️
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/improvement-notice-issued-to-cheshire-east-council-july-2024
The ongoing monitoring cycle is a direct result of a full Inspection of Local Authority Children's Services (ILACS) conducted between February and March 2024 (published May 2024).
- The Judgement Breakdown:
- Overall Effectiveness: Inadequate
- Impact of leaders on social work practice: Requires Improvement
- Experiences and progress of children who need help and protection: Requires Improvement
- Experiences and progress of children in care: Requires Improvement
- Experiences and progress of care leavers: Inadequate
Because the care leavers category was flagged with critical systemic gaps, the Department for Education issued a formal Improvement Notice to Cheshire East Council. The local authority has since undergone four sequential Ofsted monitoring checks (throughout 2025 and mid-2026) to systematically track its recovery
[END]
