Lewisham Council is expecting an inspection of its children’s services in the next few weeks amid hopes the council can move out of its “requires improvement” rating.

The three-week inspection, expected before the end of the school term, will see Ofsted inspectors speaking with the council’s social workers and looking into at least 200 cases.

This comes six months after Lewisham Council reported a £15.6m overspend on children’s services, which was attributed to mistakes in financial forecasting and issues between council systems for HR and finance.

Ofsted’s 2016 report for Lewisham found services for children in need of early help and protection had deteriorated, while standards for looked-after children had been maintained and those for care leavers had improved.

Lewisham Council executive director of children and young people, Sara Williams, said: “They will be judging the whole of what we do, not just as a council but more widely, on the basis of what they see in children’s cases in children’s social care.

“They will be drilling into at least 200 cases and they will be talking to our social workers about what it is like,” she said.

She said the inspectors would hope to see an improvement in the service, even if the council’s rating did not change.

“They are expecting to see that at least we are a better ‘requires improvement’ than last time and that we are on a positive trajectory,” she said.

Cabinet member for school performance, Chris Barnham, said children’s social care was “very important” and that “a lot of work” had gone into improving the service.

This included an improved IT system, work to recruit foster carers and establish permanent staff.

“I think it’s one of those areas where if we get it right most people don’t notice but if we get it wrong it would be disastrous for not just some families but the entire reputation of the council,” he said.

The 2012 inspection saw Lewisham rated “outstanding” for safeguarding and “good” for looked-after children services.