Democracy doesn't work when people don't know  Upgrade to paid

NEWS

Ofsted finds Devon County Council children’s services remain “inadequate” with rating unchanged since 2020

Inspection report highlights “serious weaknesses” that are “leaving children at risk of harm” as failings echo poor Special Educational Needs & Disabilities provision.

Leigh Curtis

Ofsted has found that Devon County Council children’s services are still “leaving children at risk of harm” due to “serious weaknesses” in the way some children – particularly those experiencing neglect and domestic abuse or at risk of extra-familial harm – are cared for.

In an inspection report published this week Ofsted rated the county council children’s social care performance as inadequate in four areas and requiring improvement in another, the same rating as its previous inspection report published in March 2020.

Ofsted has performed monitoring visits each year since, but nevertheless found during its inspection last autumn that “children’s experiences in Devon remain poor”.

It said that the appointment of county council chief executive Donna Manson in 2023, and some other senior leaders, had led to “increased stability” in the council’s leadership.

However it also pointed out that there have been multiple Devon children’s services directors in the period between the two Ofsted inspection reports.

Melissa Caslake took on the role for 18 months following the retirement of Jo Olsson in December 2020, before Julian Wooster replaced her on a interim basis from January to September 2023.

Stuart Collins then became children’s director for just over a year, after which Julian Wooster resumed the role in December last year.

Ofsted says that despite some improvement resulting from the county council’s “clear determination” to turn services around, the positive impact for children and care leavers has not been widespread.

When its inspection report was discussed in prospect by a children’s scrutiny committee in March, committee chair Tracy Adams asked Donna Manson and Julian Wooster whether they were “feeling confident that we are putting in place things that are keeping our children safe?”

Julian Wooster replied: “What we try and do is to reduce likelihood of harm to children” and added that there was more work to be done.

Child on park bench Photo: Devon County Council.

Ofsted’s latest inspection report arrives against a backdrop of ongoing Special Educational Needs & Disabilities (SEND) failings at County Hall.

Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission first judged Devon County Council SEND provision inadequate in 2018 finding “significant weaknesses” in local implementation of reforms introduced by the government four years earlier.

A follow-up inspection in 2022 found that the county council’s SEND improvement strategy was still not being implemented on the ground. Issues with recruitment and staff retention were not being addressed and communication with parents remained poor.

In response, the council set up a SEND Strategic Partnership Board, which includes county council CEO Donna Manson and other SEND officers as well as representatives from NHS Devon, local schools and the Department for Education.

The board produced a SEND improvement plan in April 2023. Six months later, John Hart, who was then leading the Conservative majority council, appointed Lois Samuel to a cabinet post with responsibility for improving SEND services.

Subscribe to The Exeter Digest - Exeter Observer's essential free email newsletter

Your personal information will be processed and stored in accordance with our Privacy Policy

Lois Samuel stood for re-election in the Devon County Council elections on 1 May but lost her seat along with 32 other Conservatives, another three of whom had also been Cabinet members.

The Liberal Democrats, who won the most seats in the election and are expected to govern with the support of the newly-formed Green and Independent Group, now face the twin tasks of improving children’s social care and SEND services at the same time.

A new county council leader, deputy leader and cabinet members with responsibility for these services will be appointed at Devon County Council meeting next Thursday.

Democracy doesn't work when people don't know

Public interest news that holds power and influence to account is more important now than it has ever been.

Democracy doesn't work when people don't know who is deciding what on whose behalf and what the costs and consequences of those decisions will be.

Exeter Observer was created to deliver the independent investigative journalism our local democracy needs.

It exists because people who think what we do matters are willing to chip in each month to help cover our costs.

We need more of our readers to contribute like this so we can keep producing and publishing our essential reporting.

137 of the 300 paying subscribers we need have signed up so far. Join them today to help us reach our goal.

If you value the work we do please support our work from less than £2/week. It's a small investment for a very big return.

Upgrade to paid

More stories
Illustrative view of proposed co-living blocks from Heavitree Road

Heavitree Road police station student accommodation and “co-living” scheme consultation extended

Developers revise application for full planning permission for 813-bed seven-block complex submitted in May as similar proposals proliferate across city centre.

Boneyard arcade games

Unique retro games arcade to create new Sidwell Street venue after long search

Boneyard arcade seeking permission to change use of empty Brighthouse retail unit after making way for “co-living” block at previous Red Lion Lane location.

Proposed revised Mary Arches Bartholomew Street East co-living block elevation

Mary Arches “co-living” developer resists “miniscule” room size criticisms as design revisions prompt further consultation

Changes include increased building footprints and removal of twelve rooms to provide eleven communal kitchens – between residents of 297 studios – while gates obstruct pedestrian thoroughfare and site’s historic setting and significance essentially ignored.

September 2025 permitted replacement scheme west elevation

Council denies data and contrives criteria to dismiss community balance concerns in third King Billy student block approval

Exeter Observer analysis finds more students living in city centre than residents as council bid to include PBSA in housing delivery figures weakens local planning policy – but does not remove it from decision-making altogether.

, updated

Grace Road Fields in March

Botched consultation restarted on sale of 8.5 acres of Riverside Valley Park green space

Council land disposal to include rights to lay underground distribution pipework across River Exe floodplain following “low-to-zero carbon” Grace Road Fields heat plant planning approval in face of Environment Agency sequential test concerns.

On Our Radar
Jo Eades

FRIDAY 31 OCTOBER 2025

Spork! Dead Poets Slam 2025

Halloween spoken-word special featuring Jo Eades and Samuel L. Cohen with a £100 cash prize poetry slam.

EXETER PHOENIX

Carmen with rose graphic

SATURDAY 8 & SATURDAY 22 NOVEMBER 2025

Carmen

Exeter Opera Group performs Bizet’s tale of a free-spirited woman and her passionate and destructive love affair with a soldier.

EXETER CASTLE

Exeter Philharmonic Choir

SATURDAY 8 NOVEMBER 2025

The Weather Book

Exeter Philharmonic Choir performs a new weather-inspired work plus pieces by Brahms, Poulenc and Ralph Vaughan Williams.

EXETER CATHEDRAL