The council welcomed the findings of Ofsted’s recent focused visit into Children’s Services, which recognised good progress in the support and stability provided to children in care.
The visit, carried out in March 2026, examined the experiences of children in care. Ofsted found that “most children in care are making positive progress” and recognised the borough’s “experienced, well-established and committed senior leadership team”, alongside improvements in workforce stability, management oversight and quality assurance.
Inspectors highlighted that children in Barking and Dagenham benefit from stable homes, strong relationships with carers and social workers, meaningful education support, improved emotional wellbeing services, and a clear focus on children’s voices, cultural heritage, and diversity.
The council acknowledges Ofsted’s comments regarding a small number of children placed in unregistered provision, used as a last resort when all other options have been exhausted, as is the case for nine in every ten local authorities who have reported placing children in unregistered homes, due to availability of registered alternatives. In addition to the other recommendations made by the regulator in its most recent visit.
Each year hundreds of children in England are being placed in unregistered children’s homes, arising from a broken care system and where councils cannot find places in registered homes. New legislation within the recent Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Act 2026 has recently given the inspectorate stronger powers. The recent Public Accounts Committee also found that councils were facing exorbitant rising costs for children in care placements, especially for children with complex needs, where demand exceeds the number of places available.
A recent report from the National Audit Office found that the cost of children’s residential care in England had doubled in five years. The Government is currently overseeing significant reforms in the children in care sector, including work to increase foster carer numbers and tackle profit making in the independent care sector.
A council’s spokesperson said that like all councils, it did not take the decision to use unregistered provision lightly and only when no registered setting is available. However, “further, and accelerated plans to improve placement sufficiency were in train” and the council is “exploring creative, local alternatives working jointly across children’s services, partners, providers and experts in therapeutic support”. In the longer term, the council has secured £5m funding from the DFE, which it has match funded to develop council-owned children’s homes, the first of which is expected to open in 2028.
Councillor Dominic Twomey, Leader of Barking and Dagenham Council said: “We welcome Ofsted’s recognition of the positive progress being made for our children in Barking and Dagenham, particularly the stability, care and strong relationships that many children now benefit from. We were also delighted to see Ofsted acknowledge the care, compassion and professionalism of our workforce, and the positive impact this has on the lives of children in our care; and will course continue to work on the recommendations the inspectorate has made to improve outcomes for our children in care”