IMPROVEMENTS required at the Clackmannanshire Adoption Service have been met, according to Clacks Council.

A visit from the Care Inspectorate back in October 2023 had earmarked several aspects of the service as needing worked on, with a date of February 16 set for changes to be made.

Clackmannanshire Council have now confirmed to the Advertiser that the requirements have been met, as per the Care Inspectorate’s instructions.

A spokesperson for the council said: “Clackmannanshire Council’s Family Placement Services comprises of three registered services: Fostering, Adoption and Adult Placement Continuing Care.

“Each service is regulated and subject to inspection, with the most recent inspections in the autumn of 2023.

“Inspectors recognised the significant progress that has been made, and while there continues to be areas of improvement required in the Adoption service, confidence was noted in our capacity to achieve further change and improvement.

“The Adoption service was evaluated to have good leadership, however a number of other areas for improvement were identified.

“An action plan was put in place which met the requirements by February 16, and builds on the progress that has been recognised to date.

“There will be a further inspection later this year, and it is anticipated that this will recognise the further improvements made.”

The Clackmannanshire Adoption Service was inspected between September 25 and October 13, 2023.

Inspectors assessed the service on four key areas – wellbeing, leadership, staff team and care and support.

On a six point scale, where 1 is unsatisfactory and 6 is excellent, the Adoption Service scored 2 (weak) on care and support and wellbeing, 3 (adequate) on staff team and 4 (good) on leadership.

The report stated: “We found significant weaknesses which compromised the safety and wellbeing of children and young people.

“There were major weaknesses in critical aspects of performance that require immediate remedial action to improv experiences and outcomes for people.”

The report explained that “staffing issues had impacted the quality of support provided to adoptive families”, with inspectors requiring that the council take on work to “repair working relationships and restore the confidence of caregiver families”.

Other requirements laid out by the Care Inspectorate included devising a training strategy for staff, including individualised training plans, and improving post adoption support services.

They requested that “all adoptive families must have an adoption support plan in place… and ensure that staff are fully aware of their roles and adopters are aware of their rights in relation to the development of adoption support plans.”

A follow-up inspection will be due soon. The full report can be viewed at careinspectorate.com.