Swindon's top councillors have reacted with satisfaction that Ofsted says the performance of the borough's children’s services department is improving.

Last year Ofsted gave Swindon Borough Council’s children’s services department an ‘inadequate’ rating – the lowest before putting an authority in special measures.

Since then, the watchdog has made two follow up visits, where it has noted improvement. The latest report came out this week and said progress was steady and consistent.

Councillor Paul Dixon, the council’s cabinet member for children’s social care, said: “I want to thank our colleagues in children’s services who are working incredibly hard to improve the lives of the children and families who need us. Their relentless commitment is driving positive change and we’re really beginning to see the impact of that.

“While we are making progress, we know there is still a long way to go and much work to do but it is important we build on this positive recognition of the work we are doing as we continue our improvement journey.”

Council leader Jim Robbins, added:  “It is heartening to see that Ofsted has recognised the progress that is being made across children’s services as we strive to improve outcomes for children and families in Swindon.

“I am really pleased staff, working with our partners, are beginning to see their hard work pay off and our job now is to build on what we have done so far and embed it into our practices so we see sustained improvements in the services we provide.”