Agenda item

BCP Childrens Services was inspected, under the Inspection of Local Authority Children’s Services (ILACs) framework in December 2021. The outcome was an overall inadequate judgement.

As a result the Secretary of State of Education issued a Statutory Direction and appointed a DfE Improvement Adviser to support the Council in their improvement of Childrens Social Care Services.

The Childrens Services Improvement Plan is in place to ensure progress is made at pace in Childrens Social Care in line with the recommendations of the December Inspection and in accordance with the statutory direction notice received by the Council in March 2022.

Overview and Scrutiny require regular updates on themes regarding improvement. In March 2023 Childrens Services had their third Monitoring Visit, the letter published by Ofsted is presented for scrutiny alongside, the attached presentation and the DfE Advisers second report. The DfE Adviser in their role is required to review the pace and progress of improvement at regular intervals to ensure it is sufficient and report on this to the Secretary of State

The Corporate Director of Children’s Services 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.

BCP Childrens Services was inspected, under the Inspection of Local Authority Children’s Services (ILACs) framework in December 2021. The outcome was an overall inadequate judgement.

As a result the Secretary of State of Education issued a Statutory Direction and appointed a DfE Improvement Adviser to support the Council in their improvement of Childrens Social Care Services.

The Children’s Services Improvement Plan was in place to ensure progress was made at pace in Childrens Social Care in line with the recommendations of the December Inspection and in accordance with the statutory direction notice received by the Council in March 2022.

Overview and Scrutiny required regular updates on themes regarding improvement. In March 2023 Children’s Services had their third Monitoring Visit, the letter published by Ofsted was presented for scrutiny alongside, the attached presentation and the DfE Advisers second report. The DfE Adviser in their role was required to review the pace and progress of improvement at regular intervals to ensure it is sufficient and report on this to the Secretary of State

The Committee discussed the report and areas which were covered included:

• In response to a query regarding how children’s views were recorded, the Committee was advised of the work done in order to gain, document and reflect on the views of children and young people to ensure consideration was given and a positive impact could be evidenced.
• In response to a query regarding ensuring reviews were completed on time, the Committee was advised of the barriers that were faced and how the service had improved in this area.
• The Virtual School was highlighted, and the Committee was advised of its role, work and the progress that had been made in the task of taking a more strategic view in the attainment and progress of all the children in care.
• Permanence was discussed and the Committee were advised of the definition, the process and the work being undertaken to improve permanency outcomes.
• How the impact of interventions for children were measured including using Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), ensuring the voice of the child was key and the various other methods used to measure and assess the impacts to improve outcomes for children and young people within the service. 
• Caseloads were discussed including the reasons for differing caseloads per services, the challenges faced and the strategy which had been introduced on how to reduce them across the whole service.
• In response to a query, the Committee were advised of potential identifiable risks which could slow progress, including the national work of Josh McAllister into Children’s Services which was leading to some pilot work, a consultation on local authorities management of agency social workers and within BCP risks were identified around recruitment and retention, finances, corporate work and how the service worked with other BCP services efficiently.
• In response to a concern regarding frequent turnover of case workers and the negative impact that would have, the Committee was reassured that this was an important area of focus and was closely monitored and whilst the number was reducing, it was not yet where the service wanted to be.
• The national shortage of social workers was highlighted and how the impact of the inadequate Ofsted and delay in finalising pay and reward for social workers meant BCP was not an attractive proposition for social workers however, it was noted that this was now changing and staff were returning with an increase in permanent staff.
• In response to a query about how the needs of the child or young person were managed in conjunction with all the assessments and reviews required, the Committee was advised of the family first approach and that the child and family have the right to a private life.  The different methods of how assessments were undertaken were detailed to demonstrate a varied and individualised approach.

RESOLVED that the Committee scrutinise and note the contents of the report.