Jill Colbert, the director of children's services for Tameside, believes she is on track to turn around a decade of failure after her department was placed in special measures by Ofsted in December 2023. In an interview with the Local Democracy Reporting Service, Colbert reflected on two and a half years of progress, including the establishment of a fully permanent leadership team for the first time in recent memory.
Permanent Leadership Team Established
Colbert took on the role in January 2025 and has spent most of her time without a permanent leadership team. That has now been resolved after almost a year of recruiting. "That's probably the first time in living memory that Tameside has a fully permanent leadership team," she said. "I've also been in post since January 2025 so I've outlived most of my predecessors."
The latest Ofsted monitoring visit, focused on the 572 cared for children in Tameside, credited the new permanent leadership team for bringing a "shared focus on improvement, underpinned by well-targeted improvement planning." The report, written by inspector Lisa Summers, noted strengthened performance in assessments of children's circumstances, coaching and training of staff, and the use of regular auditing and data reports.
Reduced Reliance on Agency Workers
The use of agency workers has decreased, with staffing levels stabilising. However, Colbert acknowledged that agency staff still make up 13.18 per cent of the workforce, with 28 per cent of social workers being agency workers. Her target is to bring that figure below 10 per cent. Costs have already come down from £12 million to £5 million through reduced reliance on agency staff.
Despite the positives, the inspector highlighted inconsistencies in practice and the quality of care plans. The report noted an "extensive legacy of poor practice," with many children placed with parents for years without review. "When a decision is made to discharge a child's care order, progressing this remains slow for too many children," the report stated. Some families disengage from statutory support, and the local authority does not consistently address this, meaning placements may not be safe or appropriate.
Legacy of Poor Practice
Colbert explained that the legacy work involves cases where children have been placed with family members or under special guardianship without formal reviews. "This is not unusual in an authority under a lot of pressure because you're not worried about them because they're suitably cared for but we haven't formally reviewed that set of circumstances," she said. "But that bit about deciding and making clear confident decisions is still very much part of our challenge. This is because there is a lack of confidence in a system where you've consistently told you're not good."
She added that the scale of difficulties goes back 10 years, and "that legacy work will be around for some years because it takes us a while to put things right for families."
Cultural Shift Since Scathing Report
The latest Ofsted inspection report contrasts sharply with a scathing report by children's commissioner Andy Couldrick in September 2024, which described failures, toxicity, and an oppressive and bullying culture within the service. The latest monitoring visit report noted that social workers, IROs, and frontline managers are "very positive about working for Tameside." Some have moved from other local authorities because of positive experiences of colleagues. Social workers reported that leaders are accessible and visible, and described a "tangible difference in the workplace culture since the strategic director of children's services took up the post."
Colbert has two more monitoring reports before a full re-inspection next year. By then, she hopes to have dealt with the "big ticket" issues. "Workforce, supervision, having great plans for children, understanding what's happening for them – those things I would like to think we're in a much improved position by next year," she concluded. The full inspection, which will determine if Tameside's children's services come out of special measures, could happen from spring 2027 onwards.
