We have published our joint inspection report on the protection of children and young people in the Aberdeen City area.

The inspection included services provided by health agencies, the police, the local authority and Scottish Children's Reporter Administration, as well as those provided by voluntary and independent organisations. Joint inspection reports give an evaluation of the effectiveness of services using a published quality indicator framework focusing on 6 key areas:

  • how well children and young people are listened to, understood and respected;
  • how children and young people benefit from strategies to minimise harm;
  • how children and young people are helped by the actions taken in immediate response to concerns;
  • how well children's and young people's needs are met;
  • service improvements through self-evaluation; and
  • improvements in performance.

Services in the Aberdeen City council area were given 2 evaluations of good, 3 evaluations of satisfactory and 1 evaluations of weak.

Inspectors found the following key strengths in how well children were protected and their needs met in the Aberdeen City area.

  • Trusting relationships and regular communication with staff.
  • Support to maintain positive relationships through high quality contact between children who are looked after and their families.

Inspectors agreed with services in the council area the following areas for improvement.

  • Ensure that vulnerable children and families get the help they need quickly;
  • Make it easier for people to report concerns about children and ensure that staff respond to these concerns without delay;
  • Improve the help and support for children to recover from abuse and neglect;
  • Develop and put in place effective ways of reviewing the quality of services to improve key processes and outcomes for children.

We are confident that the services will be able to make the necessary improvements in light of the inspection findings. Our link inspector will maintain contact with services to support and monitor improvements.

EDITORS' NOTE

Copies of the full report are available within our publications section