- Cllr David Perry singled out a “service redesign” undertaken by Harrow Council’s Conservative administration in 2023 as potential cause of Osted downgrading
- Inadequate rating represents a downgrade from inspections under previous Labour administrations in 2020 and 2017
- Leader of the Council shared view that downgrading is “disappointing and upsetting” after DfE issue Harrow Council with rare improvement notice
Harrow’s Labour leader expressed serious concerns at a recent meeting of Harrow Council’s Cabinet over the failure to address key issues that led to the Council’s Children’s Services department being downgraded to “Inadequate” after years of “Good” ratings under Labour administrations.
Councillor David Perry questioned both the Portfolio Holder responsible for Children’s Services, Cllr Hitesh Karia, as well as the leader of the Council, Cllr Paul Osborn, on their administrations’ role in the downgrading, which led to an improvement notice being issued to the Council by the Department for Education in a rare and serious intervention.
Cllr Perry focused on a “service redesign and restructure” in 2023 that stripped vital resources and staff members out of the department as a potential cause of the downgrade and expressed concerns that a similar service redesign outlined in July’s Cabinet report would lead to “another drop in performance.” Harrow Council proposed a £1.5m cut to the department in February 2023, but the exact amount cut has not been disclosed.
Cllr Karia stated that he “stands by” the decisions made by that Conservative-run administration in 2023 to redesign the department, despite the ensuing “Inadequate” rating.
Labour Group Leader, Councillor David Perry, said of the “Inadequate” rating and response from Harrow Council:
“While I am of course glad that Harrow Council has outlined its improvement strategy in response to its Children’s Services Ofsted downgrading, I remain concerned that the lessons that led to this failure of Harrow’s children and young people, particularly care leavers, have not been learned. For the Portfolio Holder to claim that he ‘stands by’ the decision to implement a service redesign that, in my opinion, directly led to this “inadequate” rating, indicates that they have failed to learn from their mistakes.
I question the commitment of this administration to address resident concerns over this downgrading when it stands by service adjustments which I believe to have directly contributed to this “inadequate” rating.”
For the full Ofsted report, click London Borough of Harrow – Open – Find an Inspection Report – Ofsted
For the Department of Education’s recommendation letter to the Council, click Improvement notice issued to London Borough of Harrow: April 2025 – GOV.UK