WIGAN Social Services serve most local people well and the prospects for improvement are promising, according to a report from the Audit Commission and Social Services Inspectorate.

The Joint Review found that the council provides many high quality and innovative services that meet needs well. Users and carers reported high levels of satisfaction with services.

Wigan aims to offer a prompt response to people in need - 92 per cent of all referrals in children's services are dealt with within twenty-four hours, and relatively low numbers of children and adults have to wait for more than six weeks from first contact to their service being put in place.

Childcare services have developed in recent years and there is now a wide of services available. However, Wigan needs to strengthen its practice in assessing and recording children's needs and ensure that all agencies are appropriately involved in safeguarding children.

Wigan has made good progress in modernizing its services for adults although there are gaps and waits for some services and it still has relatively high numbers of older people placed in institutional care.

The report is part of a rolling programme of reviews to assess the performance of individual social service authorities across England and Wales.

Specifically the report says:

Effective hospital discharge arrangements are in place, and intermediate care services have been strengthened and have led to reduced emergency admissions to hospital;

There is a lack of placement choice for children in public care, and in locally meeting the needs of some children and adults with specialist needs;

Wigan has a long history of working closely with carers and supporting their involvement in service improvement. There is a dedicated carers' support team that offers a range of help including befriending, bereavement support and undertaking some carers' assessments and support plans;

A good start has been made in addressing the needs of black and minority ethnic community members, but more work is needed in identifying and developing culturally appropriate services;

There are good relations with NHS partners and a shared commitment to developing services jointly;

There are still some people waiting for occupational therapy assessments, though numbers and times are reducing;

Child protection systems are sound but need tightening up to achieve better cross-agency risk analysis.

The Joint Review identified the following key areas for improvement:

ensure timely support for all service users;

tighten risk management within social services and partner activities;

embed quality assurance systems and ensure a stronger focus on outcomes for children in need;

promote the development of local services to meet current supply gaps;

ensure change is effectively managed.

Anne Bretherton, Assistant Review Director, Joint Reviews said: "Wigan has a strong focus on the needs of its local population. It works outside traditional council boundaries and is building new alliances and strategic partnerships that focus on prevention and social inclusion.

"The council has worked hard to modernise its services and is keen to ensure user and carers are involved in the process of change. Given Wigan's track record and vision we judge that the prospects for future improvement are promising."