Under improvement notice “inadequate” Harrow children’s services, and cabinet ‘failure’ to address key issues

Harrow council opposition (Labour) is seriously “disappointed and concerned” with the council administration’s failure to address key issues, leading to Children’s Services being downgraded to “inadequate” by Ofsted this year.
Councillor David Perry at a recent Harrow Council’s Cabinet meeting questioned both Cllr Hitesh Karia, responsible for children’s services, and the leader of the council, Cllr Paul Osborn, on their administration’s 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 of 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.
Cllr Perry remains concerned 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”.
He questioned the commitment of the council administration to address resident concerns over this downgrading when it stands by service adjustments which he believes to have directly contributed to this “inadequate” rating.
Cllr Karia who is very handsomely paid but fails to understand the seriousness of the council being under improvement notice and that the children’s services need sustainable improvements and resources, should resign from the post.

Headstone Manor Park, a winner!

Headstone Manor Park, along with seven other Harrow parks, is on the Green Flag Award winners list for 2025.
A total of 2,250 parks and green spaces across the UK have reached the high standards required to receive a coveted Green Flag Award in 2025 – more than ever recorded before.
For example, in the inner-city London, 39 parks have been awarded in Hackney, 28 in Southwark,  24 in Lambeth, 23 in Ealing  and 14 Tower Hamlets.
Headstone Manor Park feels more like a public park because this recent development has been imaginatively designed to sit well within the local social context.

(play – click Settings at bottom right – Quality – 1080HD for more enjoyable viewing)

Harrow council administration playing down “inadequate” children’s services

Very serious matter that the Secretary of State has appointed an Adviser to provide advice to the Harrow Council, where the Council will work with the Adviser until some such time that the Secretary of State is satisfied that this is no longer required.
Normally, the appointment of the Improvement Adviser is when the ability to improve is less sure.
The Department for Education has issued the Improvement Notice to the Harrow council, following the Harrow’s children’s services being overall judged to be inadequate by Ofsted early this year.
It is of further concern how the council administration is trying to water down the gravity of the “inadequate” ruling in their reports to the councillors, public and media as well as a sloppy script for the portfolio-holder Cllr Hitesh Karia who should have resigned by now.
It is not a five minutes fix, drawing a rapid ‘action plan’ for the ‘inadequacy’ and propagating that the Ofsted judgement was only about the ‘standalone’ care for the Leavers.
The plan needs a wider ownership and the children’s services require a long-term process to improve its culture and ethos, the apparent inadequacy of which resulted in the inadequate care for the Leavers in the first place.
Well embedded procedures and practices are needed to sustain the required changes in the organisation and practice of the service, seemingly the undercurrent of the Ofsted report and the reason for the DfE Improvement Notice.
Care and concern for the vulnerable has not been a strength of the Harrow council Conservative administrations, which now gives a sense of being on the right.
In 2007, re adult care services to those with “critical” needs, the High Court ruled the council decision was unlawful because the council had not fully considered the need to eliminate discrimination against disabled people and promote equality of opportunity between disabled people and others.
In 2024, inadequate judgement on Adult Social Care.  
Given that the Harrow Council spends a significant portion of its budget, two-thirds (66%) or £135 million out of £203 million, on supporting vulnerable, including children, but still needs an Improvement Adviser to put things right, there is a big question about the value for public money.
Shadow Portfolio Holder for Children’s Services & Education, Cllr Stephen Hickman, said of the downgrading:
“After many years of “Good” ratings under Labour administrations, the recent inspections show that our public services are not in safe hands under the Conservatives.
Due to their failure to support care leavers, the Conservative-run Council have been handed an improvement notice by the Department for Education, calling for them to ensure the ‘ongoing corporate, political and financial prioritisation of children’s services.’ Over the next twelve months, I and Harrow Labour will be scrutinising their progress on this closely.”

Physician Associate role redefined: shouldn’t diagnose patients – implications for Harrow

An independent review by Prof Gillian Leng says that the Physician associates (PAs) and anaesthesia associates (AAs), who assist doctors in GP surgeries and hospitals, should be known as “assistants” to avoid confusing patients.
Physician associates and anaesthesia associates (AAs) were introduced into the NHS in the early 2000s to ease doctors’ workload (but the PAs were more widely deployed by some).
As their numbers grew, concerns were raised about the safety of the roles, the lack of clarity around their responsibilities and the impact they had on junior medics’ work and training.
The British Medical Association has said PAs and AAs were being asked to do tasks they were not meant to do, and the lines with doctors were getting blurred.
The review recommends physician associates should be renamed “physician assistants” to reflect their supportive role in medical teams, not see new patients in primary or emergency care or make a diagnosis and should have at least two years’ hospital experience before working in a GP surgery or mental health trust.
‘Physician Associates’ in Harrow work in various healthcare settings, including many general practices and hospitals, supporting doctors in providing patient care. They can be found at locations like Belmont Health Centre and within the London North West University Healthcare NHS Trust.
‘Physician Associates’ are in much demand in Harrow and the vacancies have been advertised, for example, (in January 2025) by Health Alliance Primary care network (a group of 7 GP Practices) to recruit experienced or newly qualified Physician Associate.

Under Improvement Notice Harrow children’s services need wider safeguarding collaboration

Given that local councils have a statutory duty to safeguard and promote the welfare of children within their area, it is appropriate to find how they have responded to the government publications ‘Child protection in religious organisations and setting Investigation Report’, and ‘Working Together to Safeguard Children’.
Their responsive action could include developing good working relationships with the places of worship to raise awareness about the children safeguarding procedures and good practices, especially as many provide services to children through ‘supplementary schooling’ or ‘out-of-school provision’.
It is not uncommon for the local authorities and the places of worship to work together on child safeguarding by sharing information, collaborating on policies, and ensuring that concerns about child safety are reported and addressed appropriately. This partnership is crucial for creating a safe environment for children within faith communities because effective child protection relies on coordinated action across the community.
We looked for but were unsuccessful in finding how Harrow council has followed up the government’s child protection and safeguarding reports; for example, have they forged any links with the local places of worship.
Therefore, we asked the Harrow council strategic director of children’s services, Parmjit Chahal: “Is there any collaboration between the Harrow council and the Harrow places of worship for creating a safe environment for children within the places of worship? If so, what are the arrangements?”
Apparently, Harrow children’s services regime has no established partnership with the local places of worship regarding safeguarding, but it is reassuring to hear from Parmjit Chahal that “to ensure a robust approach and to support all our faith organisations we will be working with them to remind them of their statutory duties and where needed to provide support to ensure there are up-to-date safeguarding procedures in place.”
There is a good opportunity for the council to do this by including the places of worship in the  safeguarding preventive measures while taking steps to comply with the Improvement Notice requirements.
The Department for Education has issued an Improvement Notice to the Harrow council, following the Harrow’s children’s services being overall judged to be inadequate by Ofsted early this year.
Minister for Children and Families, Jenet Daby MP, in her letter to the leader of the Harrow council, said that on behalf of the Secretary of State, that the department for education has issued the London Borough of Harrow with an improvement Notice.
Alan Parnum, a senior civil servant in the Department for Education, elaborated*: “The Secretary of State has chosen to appoint an Adviser to provide advice to the Department for Education and the Council. The Council will work with the Adviser until some such time that the Secretary of State is satisfied that this is no longer required.”
Normally, the appointment of the Improvement Adviser is when the ability to improve is less sure.
Since the Harrow Council spends a significant portion of its budget, two-thirds (66%) or £135 million out of £203 million, on supporting vulnerable, including children, but still needs an Improvement Adviser to put things right, there is a big question about the value for public money.
It looks the Harrow children’s services need a good shake-up, both at officer and Member level. The way the Council Response to the Recent Ofsted Inspection of Local Authority Children’s Services has been reported to Overview and Scrutiny Committee and Scrutiny Sub-Committees in July 2025, and readily received by the committee, tends to support this.
The report to the July meeting, not fully stressing the gravity of the external evaluations of the services, described the practicalities and procedural matters (implying all is well except ‘standalone’ care Leavers situation!) but no obvious emphasis on the need for and well-embedded long-term process to improve the culture and ethos of the children’s services, apparent inadequacy of which resulted in the inadequate care for the Leavers in the first place, and which is needed to sustain the intended changes in the organisation and practice of the service, seemingly the undercurrent of the Ofsted report and the reason for the DfE Improvement Notice.
*elaborated

Harrow history: ‘Ugandan Asians’ welcomed

Would be good to mark the 60 years of Harrow council history in terms of the council’s progression over the years rather than raising emotions through sociocultural rhetoric, apparently to attract Reform UK potential voters!
Therefore, we have recently highlighted some of the council’s inceptions, like, the computer services, twinning with Douai and annual united act of Remembrance.
Now we look at another historic journey:  processing in ‘Ugandan Asians’!
Under Cllr Cyril Harrison (Lab) leadership and in a historic move, Harrow council boldly decided to settle in Ugandan Asians in Harrow in the early 1970s, despite national and local hostilities (the argument was that the ‘influx’ of these Asians would put British resources under pressure).
a. In a statement made on behalf of the ‘far-right’ Conservative Monday Club, Ronald Bell stated that “These so-called British Asiatics are no more, no less British than any Indian in the bazaars of Bombay”: The Times – 7 August 1972.
The club was known for its contribution to the Conservative governments, the Conservative Party and the modern British Right, from the Club’s inception in 1961 to the fall of Margaret Thatcher in 1990.
b. On one occasion about three hundred members of right-wing organisations gathered in Heathrow, they held banners and called the airport workers to refuse to handle flights from East Africa, reported The Times on 13 September 1972.
c. The prospect of Ugandan Asians arriving in Harrow was first mentioned in the “Harrow Observer” at the beginning of September 1972, following a meeting of the Council’s Policy and Resources Committee on 31 August 1972.
d. Harrow Observer also reported that the Harrow MPs (Conservative) were of the opinion that Britain could not afford, in the face of persisting social problems, to receive immigrants, and intended to raise the matter before the annual conference of the Conservative party which was due soon (usual Conservative ‘immigration’ card play).
Hugh Dykes, MP for Harrow East, thought that if immigrants were to come, no more than 3 per cent of a local migrant population should be received – (Harrow Observer, 5 September 1972)
Hugh Dykes added that: “It would be madness for us to take many thousands of Ugandan Asians… It would also be unfair to Ugandan Asians to come into Britain in an atmosphere of fear and hostility”.
Interesting that now the Conservative MP for Harrow East, and the Harrow council administration that gained Harrow East ward seats, are in place because of the ‘Asians’ (according to the Census 2021, 42.6% Harrow population is Asians).

Harrow cabinet member for children’s services needs to go!

Minister for Children and Families, Jenet Daby MP, is disappointed that Harrow’s children’s services have overall been judged to be inadequate by Ofsted early this year.
Now the Department for Education has issued an improvement notice to the council – a very serious step.
In her letter to the leader of Harrow council, made public by Gareth Thomas MP for Harrow West, she says:Harrow Council spends a significant portion of its budget, two-thirds (66%) or £135 million out of £203 million, on supporting vulnerable adults and children, but the children’s services still needs an Improvement Advisor which normally is when the ability to improve is less sure.
The cabinet member for the children’s services, Cllr Hitesh Karia, being the executive, has the overall responsibility for this awful state of affairs.
Therefore, it would be professionally sound for the cabinet executive to resign.