Lambeth's Children's Services has been rated 'Good' by Ofsted, marking a significant improvement since its previous inspection.
The inspection, which took place in January 2026, found that the overall effectiveness of the services is good. The experiences and progress of care leavers were specifically rated as 'Outstanding', a success attributed to their active and influential voice in shaping services, co-production and engagement, and dedicated support from participation workers. A hub has also been established for young people to connect and improve mental health support pathways.
However, 'The experiences and progress of children who need help and protection' was identified as requiring improvement. This was due to issues in screening and decision-making at the front door for children without identified safeguarding concerns, the response to 16- and 17-year-olds presenting as homeless, and the quality of return home interviews for children who go missing from care.
Ofsted highlighted several strengths within the services, including effective responses in child assessment teams, good use of the Signs of Safety practice model in family and child protection teams, and a strong understanding of the needs of disabled children. Extra-familial harm and contextual safeguarding were noted as particular strengths, with intelligence-led, bespoke responses protecting children. The family solutions service was also praised for its work in supporting children to remain at home or within their wider family networks.
The primary reasons for the 'Requires Improvement' rating for children needing help and protection stem from challenges in the 'front door' process. These include inconsistent multi-agency checks, a lack of consistent exploration into the impact of domestic abuse, and a pace of escalation for children of concern that can be slower than their needs dictate. Furthermore, the council does not always refer to Early Help when it would be beneficial for families, and some staff in the Integrated Referral Hub manage a disproportionate number of contacts, potentially compromising their ability to provide thoughtful responses.
Specific difficulties have also been identified in responding to 16- and 17-year-olds presenting as homeless at the front door. These include inconsistent application of the 'Southwark Judgement' and a lack of clarity on when a child transitions between children's social care and housing legislation. To address this, Lambeth is mapping the 'one front door approach' with Housing colleagues, ensuring all homeless children have the correct contact opened and receive consistent support. A review of 'no further action' cases for this cohort is also in place, and changes to the Mosaic system are being made to better track legislative distinctions.
Improvements are also being made to the undertaking and quality of return home interviews (RHIs) for children who go missing from care. The current process involves correct recording of missing episodes, completion of RHI forms after liaison with the child and their team, and the development of new training resources for staff. Steps one and two are complete, with training resources in the planning stage.
An improvement plan is in place to address these areas, focusing on consistent multi-agency checks, exploring the impact of domestic abuse, ensuring timely escalation of concerns, and improving the use of Early Help referrals. Officers confirmed that work had begun during the Ofsted inspection, with a review of 500 'no further action' contacts showing marked improvement in the multi-agency approach in subsequent months. This improvement is evidenced by a qualified social worker's report on historic NFA contacts, which found a marked difference in the multi agency approach
in more recent cases, indicating sustained improvement with more thorough work and professional curiosity being applied.
Councillor Dominic Armstrong raised concerns about the consistency of multi-agency checks. Officers explained that while SEND status is not directly checked initially, all agencies involved with a child are reviewed, and extensive work is undertaken to ensure practitioners are mindful of communication needs.
Further details on Lambeth's commitment to children and young people can be found in their Corporate Parenting Strategy 2024-2027, available at Public reports pack Monday 07-Sep-2026 19.00 Childrens Services Scrutiny Sub-Committee.
