The cabinet member, young people and children’s wellbeing, presented a letter of 24 March 2015 from the secretary of state addressed to the leader which confirmed the removal of an improvement notice. The letter congratulated the council for bringing about significant change and it was noted that staff had worked hard to achieve the notice being lifted. He added that whilst the letter was welcomed, there is no time for complacency.

The chair of the general overview and scrutiny committee made enquiries about the efficiency and efficacy of the social care system, Frameworki. He further noted concern about the red ratings in relation to the ratio of permanent and agency staff and asked about the impact of the social work academy.

The head of safeguarding and quality explained that Frameworki remained a challenge although it compared well with other similar systems; improvements have been made and there is more performance information available. Recruitment and retention impacting on caseloads remained an issue but problems could be identified much earlier. A major project was planned for next year on data migration and upgrading between Frameworki and Mosaic which would ensure that that the system was more user friendly. Progress was being made and priorities were clearer, including work on a module for looked after children. 

The chair of the general overview and scrutiny committee enquired further about concerns that were reported regarding the use of tablet devices and their interface with Frameworki. It was clarified that there remained a reliance on access to secure wi-fi at bases such as the multi-agency offices. There was work in progress to integrate devices with systems such as Agresso and HR.

The Liberal Democrat group leader commented that at least two leavers had cited to him their reason for leaving was Frameworki.

The cabinet member for young people and children’s wellbeing expressed confidence that strategies were in place to address recruitment and retention issues and that the results would be seen in the long-term. 

In answer to a question from the chair of the general overview and scrutiny committee regarding the social work academy, it was confirmed that there were a number of recruits progressing through the academy who were  working well and there was evidence that they intended to stay with Herefordshire. The first cohort had formed a peer group that was committed and putting down roots in the county. It was expected that the academy would pay dividends in the long term.

The group leader of Herefordshire Independents asked about the time taken to establish high-quality supervision. He further enquired about steps towards workers’ access to information on missing children, and multi-agency safeguarding training. 

The director children’s wellbeing commented on the importance of understanding the reality of the position that the directorate was in and the reasons for the intervention. It was not the case that no progress had been made and the report charted progress in the move towards “good”. The red ratings indicated that there needed to be faster progress in those areas. 

Responding to the question regarding supervision, the head of safeguarding and quality explained that there was progress towards re-establishing a management group with skills in reflective supervision. Feedback was that there was supervision in place but there needed to be a clear record of it and consistency with managers trained in the practice. Changes in the management group meant that there were new managers who also needed training and development.

The head of safeguarding and quality clarified that with regard to missing children and child sexual exploitation, there were multi-agency systems and reporting mechanisms in place. The system had improved in the last 12 months; however there were still significant improvements to make in this area of emerging practice. It was also noted that there was a significant number of looked after children who were not from Herefordshire. With regard to safeguarding training, there needed to be regular refresher training as one-off training was not sufficient. There were more professional forums and information being cascaded from the safeguarding board. Training costs were at a premium but more training was coming up and there was continuous improvement.

In response to a question from the group leader of the Herefordshire Independents regarding schools and safeguarding, the head of safeguarding and quality expressed concern that schools were reporting increased expectations and clarified that there had been no changes to the system or increased bureaucracy. 

The Chief Executive commented that it was a relatively small number of points that were red-rated and that this should be seen in context. Whilst there should be no complacency, the red ratings showed that reporting was more transparent and should not be cause for embarrassment.

The chair of the general overview and scrutiny committee welcomed the clarity on the red ratings and progress, and the reassurance that looked after children were known and were notified to the council when coming into the county. It was noted that it was the role of the placing authority to notify the council and systems were in place to ensure children were on the system and concerns responded to. 

RESOLVED

That:

(a)        the lifting of the intervention notice by DfE be noted; and

(b)       progress to date on the Ofsted improvement plan be noted.