Children and families services in Leeds 'make history' after third successive Ofsted outstanding rating
Leeds’s Children and families services has become the first of the UK’s core city’s to achieve three successive outstanding ratings from Ofsted.
The rating was announced today (Tuesday, August 12) following a rigorous and thorough inspection of the services the council provides for children in need of help and protection, children in care and care leavers, carried out between June 30 and July 4, 2025.
Ofsted inspectors rated Leeds City Council 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.
City Council was also rated as Good in relation to the experiences and progress of children who need help and protection.
The education watchdog said: “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. Children in care and care leavers receive high-quality services. They benefit from stable relationships with their workers, who know them well.”
Leeds City Council first achieved an Ofsted Outstanding rating for its children’s services in 2018, having transformed from 2010 when it was rated inadequate. Before retaining the five-star scoring in 2022.
By achieving Outstanding once again in 2025, Leeds is the first of the UK’s core cities – a group of 12 major cities outside of London - to achieve the inspectors’ highest possible grading for three consecutive inspections.
Inspectors said that 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.
The report added: “Children enter care when it is in their best interests. Care with family members is always the first consideration. Kinship carers progress through assessments quickly so children continue to live within their family when it is safe to do so.
“The vast majority of children, including disabled children, live in homes that meet their needs with local authority foster carers who provide a high standard of care. There is careful consideration to children living with carers who meet their cultural and identity needs. Where possible, brothers and sisters live together.”
Leaders understand the complex and diverse needs of children in 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.
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.
Children’s “wishes and feelings are central to care planning.” Most care plans comprehensively reflect children’s needs and are regularly reviewed in lookedafter review meetings to evaluate children’s progress.
Julie Longworth, Leeds City Council’s director of children and families, said: “The inspection outcome reflects the dedicated hard work of our passionate and committed front line staff, their managers, the wider council, our multi-agency partnership, and our wonderful Child Friendly City.
“We are working in unprecedented times with increased demand for our services, children, and families with the most complex of needs, and significant financial challenges. Yet our teams continue to rise to these challenges by putting children and young people at the heart of all that they do.
“We remain ambitious for the children and families of Leeds, and are steadfast in our determination to help them achieve better outcomes through our ongoing service development. I want to thank our incredible staff and partners for all that they do, day in and day out to make a positive difference to the lived experiences of children and their families.”