Issue - meetings

The focused visit to Children’s Services made by Ofsted in October 2020 resulted in a formal published letter on 27 November 2020. The letter, which is appended to this report, set out serious concerns about the quality of services, concerns which warrant urgent and immediate attention. Appendix A - the 15-point action plan - is the response to those concerns.

The Interim Corporate Director for Children’s Services at BCP Council presented a report, a copy of which had been circulated to each Member and a copy of which appears as Appendix 'B' to these Minutes in the Minute Book. The report related to the visit to Children’s Services made by Ofsted in October 2020, the serious concerns in the quality of services and the subsequent 15-point action plan - is the response to those concerns.the first national lockdown, during the Spring and Summer months of 2020. The Interim Corporate Director for Children’s Services gave an overview of this work and provided further information on the Action Plan and the position after four months post-Ofsted inspection. The key points of the presentation were:

•                4 Months on from the October 2020 Ofsted inspection the service area are continuing to make improvements. The entire academic year had been disrupted due to the COVID-19 pandemic, however the ambition of service area remains high and the throughout whole department relentless in their focus on the areas that were deemed in need of improvement, such as Corporate Parenting and Young People. The Committee heard that as system leaders there is an imperative to provide whatever is needed by young people.

•                Some of the service area’s staff were prioritised for the vaccine and there had been an increase in positive tests as the testing rates increased. The Action Plan does consider potential reductions in workforce due to COVID-19.

•                The most significant change in the 4-month period was on service area clarity and how the service orders their work. There were now processes in place that were clear and linear, so that staff and families could understand what work was being done, why and where, which was considered the bedrock of good practice by a Local Authority.

•                Keeping spirits and energy levels high within the service area was key to maintaining good leadership and workforce activity.

The Department for Education representative gave further detail around the 4-month progress of the Action Plan which included:

•                That the service has made a good start and there is strong political commitment to the plan, including cross party support.

•                The plan contains 7 ‘obsessions’ and 15 action points, which is the irreducible minimum so that all areas are delivered simultaneously.

•                Progress had taken place within the Multi-Agency Safeguarding Hub (MASH) which was heavily criticised by Ofsted last year. The services have been changed enough so that the right children were getting to the right service quicker. The family court application process, to remove children from parents where necessary, had also improved. These applications were much better handled, scrutinised and performance managed. Therefore, the service can improve as shown by such examples.

•                Improvements and changes should not happen too rapidly as there is a risk that staff could be alienated, and morale could decrease.

•                COVID-19 and lockdown had limited the progress that could have taken place, however it was important that the service continued  ...  view the full minutes text for item 127