Today (28 January 2026) Redcar & Cleveland’s children’s services have been rated ‘Good’ by Ofsted and praised by government ministers.
The new judgment represents a clear break from the position in 2022, when services were rated ‘Requires Improvement’ under the previous council administration.
Inspectors now report that children get help quickly, risks are acted on faster, and families receive more consistent and effective support. In Parliament, Children’s Minister Josh MacAlister congratulated the current Labour leadership and children’s services staff for delivering the improvement.
The recognition is the latest milestone in a journey of improvement for the department. After the change in political leadership in 2023, children’s services were made a top priority by the new Labour administration, including Luke as Cabinet Member responsible at the time. A 2023 focused Ofsted visit recorded that the leadership had “responded swiftly” to weaknesses and praised the presence of “strong political support and a committed and visible leadership team focused on improving services for children.” In today’s debate in Parliament, Luke highlighted the scale of the progress since 2023, and paid tribute to his successor as cabinet member Cllr Bill Suthers for continuing and consolidating the improvement drive. Bill said the Good rating is “a huge credit to the social workers, practitioners and managers who work day in, day out to support some of the most vulnerable children and families in our borough.”
The improvement comes alongside wider Tees Valley children’s social care reform efforts, with Luke having led calls for a regional care co-operative model to overhaul a “broken” private placements market, cut excessive costs and improve stability for children – proposals Minister MacAlister encouraged in Parliament today.
Minister Josh MacAlister said:
“I’d like to share my congratulations to the local Labour team and the children’s social care staff for the work they’ve done in turning around these services.“
“I want to take action to disrupt the broken care market, and I encourage local partners in the Tees Valley and across the whole north-east to come forward with proposals for a regional care co-operative, which the Government will certainly consider.”
Luke Myer MP said:
“After services were left needing improvement, Labour rolled up their sleeves and fixed it. Congratulations to Cllr Bill Suthers, director Danielle Swainston, and the entire team of social workers, early help teams and staff across the borough who are working so hard for vulnerable children. They’ve earned this result, and they deserve continued backing as the work goes on to support the children all of us have a duty to look after.”