To receive the outcome of the Ofsted inspection of services under the new Inspection of Local Authority Children Services (ILACS) framework, which was conducted between 4 June 2018 and 22 June 2018.

To consider the council’s response to areas for improvement identified and to make any recommendations regarding the council’s proposed submission to Ofsted and proposed actions to address the areas of improvement that have been identified.

The cabinet member children and families introduce the report, supported by the assistant director safeguarding and family support. It was highlighted that:

·         an inspection of children’s services took place in June 2018 under the new Inspection of Local Authority Children’s Services (ILACS) framework;

·         the previous inspection in 2014 found services to be requiring improvement overall;

·         the new framework had greater focus on the experiences and outcomes for children, and more time during the inspection was spent taking to front line social work staff and reviewing case files;

·         the 2018 inspection judged Herefordshire as requiring improvement overall;

·         a number of areas of strength were identified, no children seen during the inspection were found to be at risk of immediate harm and children in need of immediate help or protection had their needs met;

·         the impact of leadership on social work practice with children and families was judged to be inadequate and insufficient progress had been made in a number of areas since the previous inspection;

·         additional funding to increase capacity of social workers, social work managers, family support and business support had been agreed prior to the inspection in recognition of the need to invest;

·         the impact of the newly appointed director and the passion of the staff was recognised but it was too early to see improvements;

·         links had been formed with other councils to help the service develop;

·         the improvement plan focussed on the next three month period, after which it would be reviewed and updated as completed actions were closed off and others added;

·         some areas were already seeing improvement, other changes would not be quick fixes and sustained change would require constant focus;

·         regular performance challenge sessions would monitor progress.

In discussion of the item it was noted that:

·         changes had been made to the council policy on hard to recruit roles, recognising that the market for skilled social work staff was very competitive and that other councils were also seeking to recruit and retain sufficient numbers of qualified staff;

·         Herefordshire had been one of the first councils to be inspected under the new framework where there was no formal interview process for senior leaders, only a review of cases and interviews with front line staff;

·         the greater emphasis on practice and outcomes for children in the new framework was welcomed;

·         the inspection findings mirrored those in the council’s self-assessment;

·         councillors had a role to play in challenging performance, particularly on areas where progress was not being made as swiftly as it should, and in holding officers to account, the regular performance challenge sessions were effective and it was important for councillors to continue to ask questions;

·         the council’s partners such as the police and NHS were aware of their responsibilities in keeping children and young people safe;

·         recruiting sufficient skilled social work staff was a national issue;

·         the additional funding made available prior to the inspection was being used to improve a numbers of areas, for example increasing capacity in legal services to support legal processes  ...  view the full minutes text for item 21

To receive the outcome of the Ofsted inspection of children’s services and the council’s proposed response to areas for improvement identified.

The committee received a report from the Cabinet Member young people and children’s wellbeing which set out the outcomes of the recent Ofsted inspection and the action plan produced by the Council in response. The Director Children and Families and the Assistant Director, Safeguarding and Family Support introduced the report and explained that the inspection had been conducted under the new inspection framework which was focused on experience and outcomes. The inspectors had reviewed internal information such as the self-assessment and had conducted interviews with social workers.

The DCF outlined the findings of the inspection. The overall judgement was requiring improvement, but the judgement for the impact of leaders on social work practice with children and families was inadequate. There were a number of positive reflections on the services in Herefordshire and no child seen was at risk of significant harm and children at risk of immediate harm receive prompt and responsive intervention, ensuring they are safeguarded. The council’s self-assessment had already identified areas that were reflected in Ofsted’s report including capacity and caseloads of social workers. Recruitment to teams and performance management systems were also highlighted as an area of concern raised through the inspection. The action plan proposed a range of actions to address the findings of the inspection and some were already taking place. The effectiveness of the plan would be monitored and there was a need to refresh the plan every three months. It was recognised that there was a need to ensure a sustained cultural change to ensure consistent progress. The report and action plan would be presented to Cabinet for approval and a further visit by Ofsted was expected.  

The committee raised the issues below in the discussion that followed:

·         The committee referred to an article which contained details of the inspection framework and those elements which ensured a good outcome from an inspection.

·         The money that had been dedicated by Cabinet to support the recruitment of social workers would help to support elements of the action plan. Would this funding be maintained? The DCF confirmed that funding for capacity and staffing needed to be sustained to ensure improvement. The Council was in a relatively healthy financial position and a base budgeting exercise was underway to set out what was required to continue the staffing in next year’s budget. There remained challenges around the recruitment of permanent and agency staff. There had been some success but recruitment was an ongoing issue and methods for the recruitment and retention of social workers were being investigated.

·         The committee acknowledged that the report had some areas of concern but also contained positive elements.

·         The committee requested information regarding how the concerns regarding the continuity of social workers for children would be addressed. The ADS&FS confirmed that difficulties with recruitment of social workers had an impact upon the continuity of social workers but it was important that the service sought to ensure that the experience of newly qualified social workers who worked in Herefordshire was positive to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 26