Services for children and young people in Clackmannanshire and Stirling are improving, inspectors have found.
A team of specialist inspectors from the Care Inspectorate and partner agencies returned to both areas to check on progress a year after an inspection raised concerns.
In 2014 inspectors raised concerns about the availability and co-ordination of services to support families at an early stage to prevent difficulties arising or getting worse. Inspectors also found weaknesses in assessment and planning which could leave some children and young people at risk. Children’s services planning was not robust and leaders were not working effectively together to improve outcomes for children and young people.
Following publication of that report in May 2014, inspectors have now carried out a progress review to check that improvements had been made on the concerns raised.
The review found that over the last year, partners delivering services in the Clackmannanshire and Stirling Community Planning Partnership areas had responded constructively to make improvements.
Assessment of risks was stronger with multi-agency discussions and planning meetings now taking place promptly when there were concerns about children’s safety or well-being.
Staff had been given useful tools to help them assess the needs of children at risk of neglect and the quality of assessment was steadily improving, albeit there was still some way to go to ensure consistently high quality.