To share the feedback from Ofsted inspectors following their first formal Monitoring Visit conducted March 29-30 2023 and activity to prepare for future Monitoring Visits.

Cabinet members considered a report setting out the feedback received following the first monitoring visit of children’s services by Ofsted, conducted during 29^th and 30^th March 2023.

The cabinet member children and young people introduced the report and highlighted:

·       Having been found to be inadequate, children’s services at Herefordshire Council will be subject to regular monitoring by the Ofsted inspectorate.

·       The focus of this first visit was the ‘front door’ into the service, including the multi-agency safeguarding hub (MASH) and associated teams. During the inspection in the summer of 2022 there were significant concerns about the front door and the multi-agency response to risk. This monitoring visit noted significant improvement in the functioning of the MASH.

·       The cabinet member visited MASH earlier this week and spoke with staff and one of the mangers. Improvements were noted, including multi-agency strategy meetings being held promptly.

·       The feedback on the poor quality of assessments is disappointing but not a surprise at this stage and is the focus of much attention. Inspectors did find examples of improved practice and were complimentary about the quality of case audits and performance information.

·       No significant safeguarding concerns were raised by inspectors during their visit.

·       Work with the council’s improvement partner starts this month, focused on the quality of practice as well as culture and values in the services.

·       Inspectors praised the leadership of the service for their determination and commitment to improve, noting that they understand the scale of change and have a realistic self-assessment. Staff spoken to by the inspectors were positive about the changes being implemented and about their involvement in that change process.

·       Recruitment remains a challenge and workforce churn is an ongoing issue. The council has some excellent agency and permanent workers and their commitment and passion to keep improving is welcomed.

·       The feedback letter for a first visit is not published by Ofsted but is being shared openly at this meeting as part of the open and honest approach adopted by the service leadership.

Cabinet members discussed the report and it was noted that:

·       It is important to recognise the improvements that have been made and to congratulate staff for these;

·       There are 32 families currently on the waiting list for targeted support (around 70 children), the maximum wait for targeted support has been 5 weeks as the service has been shorted staffed and the service is working hard to create extra capacity;

·       Signs of safety is still available as a tool for staff to use, particularly in child protection work, but the key is to improve the quality of social work practice and to work with the council’s safeguarding partners to have relationship based discussions using any of the tools available;

·       It is estimated it will take up to three years to make the changes needed, there is an ambitious program and capacity will be stretched at times but there is a whole council approach to supporting improvement and when the service has required additional capacity the request has been responded to positively;

·       Improving children’s services is the council’s number one priority;

·       As the improvements needed are wide-ranging and comprehensive not everything can be progressed at the pace desired and activity must be sequenced so that changes in systems and processes allow in term other things to be improved.

The chairperson of the children and young people scrutiny committee confirmed that the improvement plan will be one of the main elements of focus for the committee and that they will be considering the feedback from Ofsted both from this monitoring visit and future visits. It was confirmed that actions related to the MASH have been picked up by the safeguarding partnership and will be reported back to the partnership.

Group leaders gave the views of their groups. The improvements noted in the feedback were welcomed but it was recognised that there is still much more to do. In response to queries it was noted that:

·       The voice of children and families is important, there are some signs of better practice from those staff who have completed the training that is being rolled out but not all staff have completed this yet;

·       Audit activity is showing more evidence of direct work with children and young people but this needs to be continued and embedded in all that the council does;

·       Since the visit more management has been introduced some of the practice development resources have been targeted in this area;

·       Positive changes to the records system continue, with more quality assurance processes built in;

·       The cabinet member is continuing conversations with all safeguarding partners on professional curiosity and related policies;

·       Relationship-based practice and restorative approaches are key areas and one of the reasons that the particular improvement partner has been chosen for Herefordshire Council is their skills in that;

·       It is important that where possible and safe, children should stay in the family environment and this should be the starting point for working with children and families.

It was unanimously resolved that:

a)         Cabinet receive this report and note the feedback from Ofsted Inspectors.