Joint Area Review - Information for children and young people

Joint Area Review - Information for children and young people

1. Background

An inspection, called the ‘Joint area review’ was recently carried out on the Council’s support for children in Hammersmith and Fulham. A group of inspectors  looked at how we can improve what we do to help you:

• be healthy; 
• stay safe; 
• enjoy and achieve at home and school;
• make a positive contribution to our community; and
• achieve economic well-being.    

The inspection also looked at the way that we work together with other organisations to make sure that you are able to reach your full potential while growing up.  The inspectors met with a lot of people, including children and young people, and looked at lots of the things that we do, asking two important questions: 

i. What is life like for children growing up in Hammersmith and Fulham?
ii. How well do services work together to improve the wellbeing of children and young people. 

2. What they found

We think that it is important to let you know what they found out.

Overall, their feedback showed that children and young people do have a good life experience in the borough and that services do work well together. 

The findings showed:

• The Council is working well with other organisations to provide and improve services to children and young people including those young people who are looked after by the Council
• The arrangements for the safety of children and young people are adequate, with much good work being done in the borough to improve children’s safety
• The support that we offer for children and young people with learning difficulties and/or disabilities is good
• The things we do to support the emotional health and well being of young people to help them through difficult times are improving significantly, especially for those young people with learning difficulties and for young people who have offended
• There are good opportunities for young people over the age of 16 as they move on from school or college
• The performance of boys at school is improving, especially for those boys who are struggling with attending and learning
• In general the Council is working well to deal with the issues faced by  children and young people and has the ability to do an even better job 

3. What happens next

A list of things we do even better has been identified and the Council is working to address them.  Many of these learning points will be in our next Children and young people’s plan, set for 2008-2011.

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