Agenda item
Children's Services Improvement Report
Minutes:
The Committee received and noted a report that will be considered at Cabinet on 26th September 2018 that provides an update on progress in delivering improvements to Children’s Services in response to the report published by Ofsted in April 2017 which rated the Council’s services ‘inadequate’. The Council’s improvement plan aims to achieve a standard of at least ‘good’ in summer 2019, when it is likely to be next inspected, which is the minimum our children and families deserve. The council has now had four monitoring visits from Ofsted. The main points of the discussion are summarised below.
The Committee noted that:
· The most recent visit, on 15-16 August 2018, had focused on Permanency Planning and the Public Law Outline (PLO), i.e. how the council performs its obligations as a corporate parent. Inspectors evaluated the quality of care planning for children in care, in particular the achievement of timely permanence for all children who are unable to live with their birth parents. They assessed progress since the last inspection and focused on areas of practice that had required significant improvement.The Monitoring Visit letter was published on 10th September;
· Ofsted had found that: “while there has been improvement in key areas since the last inspection, there are still considerable weaknesses in permanence planning and in assessments for children who cannot live with their parents. Overall, the quality of practice with these vulnerable children is improving, but it is still too variable. Senior leaders agree with inspectors’ findings. They are determined to accelerate the pace of change and are taking appropriate action to address the significant deficits in the children in care services.”;
· Some key improvements noted by Ofsted include:
· Decisions about whether children should become looked after are now underpinned by effective and accessible legal advice;
· Improved performance management arrangements mean that senior leaders and frontline line managers are very knowledgeable about service performance;
· Long-term and short-term placement stability is beginning to improve;
· Better sufficiency planning is leading to increasing availability and choice of placements. The revised sufficiency strategy has successfully focused on the development of existing foster carers to increase capacity;
· The recently developed edge of care team (November 2017) has been instrumental in decreasing demand for placements, particularly for older adolescents, and in reducing overall numbers of children in care;
· The head teacher of the virtual school provides strong leadership and a clear strategic vision for improvement across all keys stages and for children leaving care.
· There was however a number of areas where improvement is needed, for example:
· Management oversight of the permanence planning process is weak and options for permanence are not considered simultaneously, which prolongs uncertainty for children;
· When children come into care, only 22% of initial health assessments are completed within timescales. This has not improved since the inspection in 2017; and
· Assessments for children in care are not updated routinely and too often, when cases are in court, the assessments focus on the concerns about the parents.
· Ofsted noted that purposeful direct work with children to help them to understand why they are not living with their parents is improving but is not yet consistently good enough. In better cases, relationship-based direct work is tailored to children's needs and is age appropriate. This is a significant improvement;
· Staff recruitment and workforce stability remains a key priority, and senior leaders have recognised that this is a risk which requires ongoing monitoring during the final stage of the improvement journey. The Council has put in place a range of strategies and measures which are pointing to an improved picture;
· Workforce stability overall has improved during 2018. The annual rolling figure has reduced from a high of 23.3% turnover and 47 leavers in February to 19% and a further fall at the end of June to 16.9%. Within the teams there are also other signs of positive changes, with a significant decrease of turnover from 75% in January to 20% in June in the MASH (Multi Agency Safeguarding Hub) /Assessment and Intervention Team. It was noted that this is a very positive picture and reflects the focus on improving practice and support in the team;
· The reduction of staff turnover is one of most important aspect of workforce stability as it reflects disruption, cost and loss of experience when an experienced member of staff leaves the service. The improvements in the service, a good professional development offer and ongoing support are the most effective strategy to tackle turnover. Analysis has been undertaken to identify the career points at which exits occur and as a result those at the 3 and 7 year employment point are receiving a targeted career interview;
· At the end of June 2018, 61% of posts across the Children’s Social Care service were filled by permanent staff. The Council are adopting a multi-channel approach to the increase in the permanent staff and a reduction in agency workers which is set out below; and
· Over 2018 the Council has worked hard on improving Social Worker recruitment and this is starting to yield results. Work is underway to ensure that the Council has the most attractive offer to attract potential candidates.
Supporting documents:
- Children’s Services Improvement- Quarterly Progress Report – Cover Sheet, item 7.1 PDF 58 KB
- Q1 CS Improvement report Cabinet Sept 2018 290818 cleared FINANCE LEGAL..._, item 7.1 PDF 208 KB