About Community and Children's Services

Date updated: 13/06/2023

The Department of Community and Children's Services (DCCS) has a wide remit to provide care and support to the residential and worker population of the City of London. It is responsible for:

all the people, housing, education, social care and community services for the more than 9000 residents within the Square Mile
public health, leisure and adult education for both residents and the more than half a million people working in the City of London
building new affordable homes and for the maintenance and repairs programme of our existing properties including the Barbican Estate, Middlesex Street Estate, Golden Lane Estate and ten other estates situated in six different London boroughs

The DCCS Outcomes Framework sets out our five priority themes. These are:

Safe - People of all ages live in safe communities, our homes are safe and well maintained and our estates are protected from harm
Potential - People of all ages can achieve their ambitions through education, training and lifelong-learning
Independence, involvement and choice - People of all ages can live independently, play a role in their communities and exercise choice over their services
Health and wellbeing - People of all ages enjoy good health and wellbeing
Community - People of all ages feel part of, engaged with and able to shape their community

Our last Ofsted Inspection of Local Authority Children's Services was in March 2020. We were rated Outstanding.

The headlines are:

"Children’s services in the City of London are outstanding.
"Children benefit from a strong and highly effective social work service which has continued to significantly improve since the previous inspection."
Outstanding - The impact of leaders on social work practice with children and families
Good - The experiences and progress of children who need help and protection
Outstanding - The experiences and progress of children in care and care leavers
Outstanding - Overall effectiveness

See the full inspection report for more information.

In November 2022 we had a 'focussed' visit from Ofsted. Headline findings were:

"Inspectors found high-quality practice which ensures that children benefit from effective and responsive front door services"
"Children in need receive the right support at the right time"
"Leaders are creating the right environment for social work to flourish"
"The City of London has a stable workforce"

And more which can be read in the letter towards the bottom of this page.

How we are governed

The work of Children and Families Services is governed by the wider City of London Corporation and various partner organisations.

Children's Partnership Board

The Children’s Partnership Board (CPB) will provide a focus and forum for partnership work to improve outcomes for children and young people by championing, developing and delivering the Children and Young People’s Plan.

Key Responsibilities

Championing our local vision for children, young people and their families
Overseeing and supporting delivery of our Children and Young People’s Plan by initiating, developing and monitoring partnership work
Providing a forum for shared learning and development and ‘join up’ of services, strategies and systems
Championing engagement and co-production, including with the City Youth Forum, Children in Care Council and SEND Parents Forum
Providing a vehicle for oversight and implementation of the CYPP linking to the Health and Wellbeing Board, City and Hackney Children’s Safeguarding Board, Integrated Commissioning Programme (Children and Maternity), Safer City Partnership and City Corporation CCS Grand Committee

Members of the CPB will be expected to support partnership work to improve outcomes for children and young people and provide leadership on the CYPP within their organisations.

City and Hackney Safeguarding Children Partnership

The City of London jointly leads the City and Hackney Safeguarding Children Partnership (CHSCP) along with the London Borough of Hackney. The Partnership is made up of senior representatives from its member groups and sub-committees, which carry out the Partnership's responsibilities. All sub-committees report back to the Partnership which meets quarterly. The City of London has a sub-committee which reports to the CHSCP and to the City's Corporate Parenting Task group.

City and Hackney Safeguarding Adults Board

The board is a statutory multi-agency partnership (Care Act 2014). The main objective of the board is to ensure that local safeguarding arrangements are in place and organisations safeguard adults at risk of abuse in City and Hackney.

Under the Care Act 2014, the Board has three main duties:

to publish a strategy, which tells people what the priorities are and how the board will meet them
to publish an annual report focusing on achievements and how well the board have implemented their strategy
to conduct Safeguarding Adults Reviews where someone has died or suffered serious harm as a result of abuse or neglect

For more information, visit the London Borough of Hackney website.

NHS East London and the City

The three primary care trusts serving the City and Hackney, Newham and Tower Hamlets are working together as NHS East London and the City.

These trusts have joined forces to improve health services for local people, and they will also be working in partnership with local authorities to support the development of GP commissioning group. A single board is accountable for ensuring the responsibilities of the three primary care trusts are carried out.

The Department commissions a range of services to support its work – including social care support, specialist accommodation, homelessness services, sports and leisure services, and more.

We commission services and accommodation from voluntary, charitable and private sector organisations, social enterprises, local authorities and other public bodies. We also commission some services jointly with or on behalf of other local authorities. Our approach allows us to tap into the wide range of expertise and innovation of many, and respond to the individual needs of those we support.

Adult Social Care providers interested in our “Market Sustainability Plan” – the plan that sets out our work and approach to help support a vibrant social care sector – can read the plan on our Fair Cost of Care and Market Sustainability Plan web page.

Between 12-16 March 2018, Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission (CQC) conducted a joint inspection of the local area of the City of London to judge the effectiveness of the area in implementing the disability and special educational needs (SEN) reforms, as set out in the Children and Families Act 2014.

Inspectors spoke with children and young people who have SEN and/or disabilities, parents and carers, local authority and National Health Service (NHS) officers. They visited a range of providers and spoke to leaders, staff and governors about how they were implementing the special educational needs reforms.

Our inspection letter outlines findings from the inspection, including some areas of strengths and areas for further improvement.

Find out more in the Joint Local Area SEND Inspection Letter at the bottom of this page.