The purpose of this report is to present cabinet with the Phase 2 Children’s Services Improvement Plan for endorsement on 13th July 24

The cabinet member for children and young people introduced the report, the improvement plan was revised by the corporate director and went to children’s improvement board in July and considered by scrutiny committee in September.  The plan focuses on 9 recommendations following the Ofsted inspection. The equality assurance framework enables the Council to understand the impact of what it does and the audit activity helps the Council understand the activity work delivered.  Noted that the plan on a page is aimed towards staff and this has been received positively. 

Councillor Fagan (chair of the Children and Young Person’s Scrutiny Committee) discussed the improvement plan on 17 September.   The Committee welcomed the focus on the improvement actions and the focus on auditing across the partnership of services for young people.  The approach to restorative practice was particularly welcomed and the committee felt this should be implemented across the partners in the County. 

The Committee recognised the achievements that had been made within the workforce and the work that continues to drive improvement in this area.  The Committee also felt that the consultation with families on the ‘right time right place thresholds of need’ and managing risk should receive far greater publicity and exposure to ensure that the county families understand and agree with the thresholds.

The initial discussions around child friendly Herefordshire were also welcomed and it was important to ensure the needs of children and young people were clearly identified in developing plans such as the Local Plan and when considering the budget.  The points made were as follows:

In Leeds they have done an audit of their child friendly Leeds and it’s shown that issues like planning and highways did not take into account the impact on the lives of young people and children. 

The new improvement plan was easy to read, the ambitions were very clear, and the actions clearly identified. 

Cabinet members discussed the report. The following comments were made:

How positive the strong steer, direction and purpose was in Children’s Services. The numbers were increasing for recruitment and retention, but assurance was sought regarding the ASYE (the Assessed and Supported Year in Employment) cohort.  There was a fluctuation in foster carers and an increase in connected care households.  There was a clear line of sight within the plan, and it was helpful that it closely connected with the Ofsted recommendation. 

In response Councillor Powell, cabinet member for Children and Young People, confirmed that caseloads are monitored across the department and the AYSE group (Assessed and Supported Year in Employment social workers) have a reduced case load with less complicated work allocated.  They are also supported by a supervising social worker. 

The cabinet member explained regarding foster carers and connected care households (also known as kinship care), it is natural for the connected care numbers to fluctuate as the restorative practice model is embedded and that reduces the need for some children to go into kinship care.  Foster care does present recruitment challenges, particularly foster carers who feel able or confident to support children who have more complex needs. Fostering recruitment is still underway and the Chief Executive and the cabinet member for Children and Young People had recently attended various foster care events and the second annual foster care celebration (Foster Fest) had also taken place.  This was briefed to the Corporate Parenting Board separately. It was highlighted that within the recruitment strategy a council tax exemption for foster and kinship care had been implemented. The Council were also reflecting on how recruitment with community and business support in the market towns could be implemented to encourage foster carers. 

In response to Councillor Fagan it was noted that this document is used by professionals when considering the set of circumstances and what the appropriate multi agency response would be.  It was confirmed that wider advertisement of this document had now taken place. 

Group leaders gave the views of their groups.

The plan was welcomed but it was acknowledged there was more work to be done.  It was noted that it had been 12 years since a negative Ofsted report was received and 5 years since matters became more serious.  Whilst it was acknowledged there was a stronger grasp of the situation and the voices of the families were being listened too, more could still be done in this respect.  Concern was also expressed that the feedback received from engaging with the families and children was not the focus of how the Council engage with them day to day.  It was positively acknowledged that clear time frames were identified in the plan but there should be greater emphasis on empowering ‘all members’, not just the corporate parenting board in respect of Ofsted recommendation one. Regarding early help, it was positive that the plan referred to formalising the early help offer in schools and progress had been made highlighting the thresholds.  It was also positive that the Council website had created clarity regarding the various services.

In response to the queries, it was acknowledged that the voice of the child wasn’t deeply embedded.  It was confirmed that an underpinning element within the children’s improvement framework is to hear the voice and understand the experience of the children.  It was explained that children services engage with families that have received intervention to gather feedback.  Recent examples were provided where six out of eight families stated they did understand the reason for being allocated a social worker and they were able to share their views with the social worker.  The families confirmed they had received a copy of the child and family assessment and the child’s plan, 100% felt the professionals involved worked well together and six families felt the social worker had made a positive experience. 

Councillor Powell, cabinet member for children and young people, explained that he had met with families who felt they had a negative experience and noted those experiences have been reflected in the improvement plan.  It was highlighted how important it was to continue to receive feedback from families experiencing what was happening now so issues can be picked up on where necessary. 

In respect of the corporate parenting board, it was confirmed that all members can work together, and it was highlighted that all members are corporate parenting members and to get in touch if they have suggestions or ideas. 

Regarding early help, the great work of schools was recognised, and it was acknowledged if there was more that could be done regarding engagement then the council will do that. 

It was unanimously resolved that:

a)    Cabinet endorse the Phase 2 Improvement Plan outlined in Appendix A

b)    Cabinet authorise the Corporate Director for Children and Young People in consultation with the council’s Corporate Leadership Team to lead this improvement plan on behalf of the Council and to send it to Ofsted as part of the ongoing children’s services monitoring.