Agenda item

– report of the Cabinet Member for Specialist Children’s Services, Mrs Jenny Whittle, and Corporate Director for Families and Social Care, Andrew Ireland)

(1)     Cabinet receiveda reportsetting out the successfulprogress inthe deliveryof safeguardingservices to childrenin Kentby KCCand its partners.It includedan overviewof progresssince the criticalOfsted inspectionreportin 2010 and the subsequent impositionofan Improvement Noticeby summarisingthe positive outcomes ofall foursubsequentOfstedinspectionsandthe further stepsbeing taken to buildon thisprogress.

(2)     TheCabinetMemberforSpecialistChildren’s Services,Mrs JennyWhittleintroduced the report.She reported that Ofstedhad inspectedthe key areas ofsafeguarding, childrenin careand fosteringand adoptionin 2010 and had been criticalof performance.She remindedmembersofthescale ofthe workundertakenat Kent, beingthe second largestChildren’s Servicesdepartmentin the Country.It offered supportto 1600 childrenin care,approximately200 unaccompaniedminors anda significant numberofcareleavers and childrenplacedin Kent byotherlocal authorities.She drewthe attentionofmembersto the followingphases of achievementsince 2010:

(i)     Crisismanagementand the requirementto respondto the needs ofsome very vulnerablechildrenquickly

(ii)  Stabilising, consolidatingand buildingthe serviceto the levelrequired

(iii)          Improvementto transformation– the currentphase.Theservice wouldaim to furtherprogress fromadequateto good to outstandingand Ofstedhad rated the capacityto improveas at leastgood.

(3)     Mrs Whittlethankedthosememberswho hadsat on the Children’s’Services ImprovementPanelwhich had beenextremelyusefuland had providedsupportand constructivechallengeto facilitatepositive change.

(4)     She describedthe keyimprovementsmade since 2010:

(i)     Workhadbeen restructuredin orderthat socialworkers no longerhad generic caseloadsbut workedindedicatedChildrenin Caresupportteams.

(ii)    A centralreferralunit hadbeen createdwhich included thepolice, healthand social servicesin orderthat information aboutvulnerable families couldbe shared moreeffectively.

(iii)          An open, transparentand rigorousperformance managementframeworkhad been put inplace includingthe ‘deepdive’ functionthat had required operationalmanagersto accountableforthe quality ofsupportprovided.

(iv)                 Adoptionserviceshad, inthefirst quarterofthisyear, facilitated the adoption of the samenumberas the wholeof2010.

(v)   Staffmoralehad improvedand a new ITsystem wouldshortlybe introduced that wouldallow officersto spend moretimewith families and furtherincrease job satisfaction.

(5)     And those areaswhere further improvementwas sought:

(i)     Consistencyofpracticeacross the County,to this enda newsocial work contact had been created.In additionstaffsupportand trainingwould continueto be strengthened.

(ii)   Qualityofsupportforcareleavers, inparticularallowing careleaversto stay withfosterfamilies afterthe age of16. itis apractice that iswell established at Kentbut which wouldbe formalisedby theintroductionofa policyto that effect.

(6)     Mrs Whittlecontinued;referringto thefollowing relevantinformation:

(i)     Thatto ensure futureachievementsreflected theneeds of the youngpeople affectedqualitativeresearch wouldbe conducted withcare leaversto obtain viewson the quality offostercarers,social workers,educationprofessionals andotherworkers who provideservices forthese youngpeople.

(ii)   Thatwhile staffrecruitmentremaineda challengeit washopedthatthe improved Ofsted reportswould, alongsideotheractions taken suchas improvementsto the recruitmentsite,reducethe council’sreliance on agency staff.

(iii)          Thatthe CAMHSservicehad reducedthe waitingtime fromreferralto treatmentbut there wasstill furtherwork to be done,inparticularin thenorth ofthe county.

(iv)                 ThattheEarly InterventionandPrevention Teamhad receivedsubstantial investmentand offereda good serviceto vulnerable families.  Howeverfurther work wouldbe undertakento tryto achievea reductionin thenumbersof childrenin care.  Memberswere askedto considerthatalthoughnumbersin Kenthad not fallen asanticipated,in otherareas ofthe countrythey hadrisen and thereforethe investmenthadbeen effectivein stabilisingthose numbers.

(v)   Financial managementofthebudget continuedto createchallengesfor officersandmembersand significantpressurescontinued.ThePortfoliowas currently undergoinga diagnostictest to evaluatethe wholeserviceand ensure that no internalbarriers tofinancial effectivenessexisted.

(7)     Mrs Whittleconcluded,she thankedCabinetforthe continuedfinancialsupportofthe portfolioand officersfortheir hardwork and encouraged membersto shadowa social workerto see the improvementsfirst hand.She assuredCabinet that workwould continuein order to furtherimprovethe serviceand to achievecontinuedand greater positivefeedbackfromOfstedundera strengthenedand much tougherinspection regimewhich had seen overhalf of the localauthoritiesinspectedin the last year labelledas ‘inadequate’.

(8)     TheLeaderreiteratedthat the newinspectionframeworkwould bea toughchallenge for Kent and otherlocalauthorities.He remindedmembersthaton receivingthe inadequateinspectionin2010that workhad begunimmediatelyto effectchangeand that it wasthought thatat the timeit wouldtake 2-3years to achieve.He expressed delightthat inthree yearsthe servicehad been sosignificantlyimproved andthat the last ofthe fullsuiteofre-inspectionshad foundthe serviceto be adequate.He thankedthe Cabinet Memberfor Specialist Children’sServices forherwork on the portfolioand the officersdelivering serviceswithinthedirectorate.Heassured membersthat the councilwould not become complacentand that althoughthe achievementsto date wereto be welcomed,work wouldcontinuetowardthe further improvementofservices.

(9)     TheLeaderasked the InterimDirector ofSpecialistChildren’s Services,Mairead

MacNeilto addressthemeeting,and inparticularto speakto theongoingwork toward the creationoffurtherimprovementsin service.Ms MacNeilrespondedto the requestby confirmingthat officerswere pleasedand quietlyconfidentthatmore improvementscouldbe delivered.

(10)   She reported that significantchallengeshad been identifiedin the areasof recruitmentand consistencyofservice, bothdescribed byMrs Whittlepreviously. In additionthe needfor furtherimprovementto the leavingcare servicewas crucial, Ofsted had remainedcriticalof the outsourcedservice providedandthis wouldbe addressedas partofphasethree ofthe scheduledimprovementwork.

(11)   Ms MacNeilcongratulatedthose involvedand reported thatthe performance managementframeworkin placeat KentCountyCouncil wasthe best that she had seenand that the ‘deepdive’ exercisesreferred to by MrsWhittleearlier,had been particularlyeffectivein creatinga link betweenperformancemanagementand the impact onyoung peopleaccessingservices.

(12)   It was RESOLVED: