On 8 and 9 October 2025 Ofsted inspectors conducted their monitoring visit to the Council of the Isles of Scilly’s children’s services as part of the inspection regime following the judgement of “Inadequate” in July 2023. This was the fourth monitoring visit made by inspectors since 2023 and was focussed on determining what improvements had been made to the overall quality of services to children and young people.
Ofsted has now published a letter summarising the findings from this visit. You can read the letter in full on the Ofsted website.
The findings highlighted there was improving support and protection for children on the Isles of Scilly. Key relationships between the council and other agencies on the islands and on the mainland are working well - particularly “when children are potentially at risk of significant harm”.
They also highlighted that effective joint working resulted in better information sharing discussions so children and their families get the help when they need it. Inspectors also noted the services were well supported across the Council and children in need and their families receive support and intervention “that make a positive difference to their lives”.
The monitoring visit picked up that there was still more to do to strengthen the permanent management structure and recruit to key posts. They also asked that help for young carers should be more systematically resourced. They also highlighted the need for more work to strengthen the assessment and support for post 16-year-olds who access education on the mainland and recognised this was an area which senior leaders were addressing with urgency. Overall, the Ofsted inspectors determined that “senior leaders have made progress in their implementation of their improvement plan”.
The Council welcomed Ofsted’s positive findings and particularly the recognition that services continue to improve in most areas. Sue Ross, Interim Director of Children and Adults Services, said: “Children’s services staff on the Islands have worked very hard to continue to achieve improvements in practice and it is very pleasing that inspectors have been able to recognise that this makes a real difference to the lives of children on the Isles of Scilly. We will continue to focus on our improvement and are optimistic that when the Council’s services are inspected next year, the value of those improvements will be reflected in a really positive overall judgement.”