Report to follow

The Interim Director of Children’s Services gave a presentation on the latest developments in Children’s Social Care Services, following the Ofsted inspection in March 2019 and the publication of the inspectors’ report, in May 2019, which had rated Trafford as “inadequate”. A regular update on the Council’s progress against the Ofsted recommendations would be presented at the meetings of this Committee during the current municipal year.

The Interim Director of Children’s Services informed the Committee that the Council held valid data and intelligence but it was necessary to utilise these elements for effective planning. There were specific areas that needed to be addressed such as the quality of social work assessment to ensure that it met effectively the child’s needs, the response to children who went missing to ensure that return home interviews were completed and records of these were utilise for future risk managing.

The Interim Director of Children’s Services went on to explain some of the measures that were being implemented to address Ofsted recommendations, for example, additional social workers and team leaders with preference for permanent staff and stability in the number of team members. A leadership programme was being developed and a Shadow Improvement Board, led by an independent chair, had been established where elected members, senior officers and representatives from Greater Manchester Police worked together to address the recommendations. The final draft of the action plan was ready and it would go to Ofsted on 13^th August 2019. The Department for Education (DfE) was kept informed of the progress against the draft action plan which would be brought to the attention of this Committee after its submission to the Shadow Improvement Board. Regular meetings with the Deputy Leader of the Council took place to update on progress against the recommendations. Trafford Council would also have the opportunity to receive peer support by visiting an authority, with good Ofsted rating, such as Cheshire West and Chester Council to work together on a range of issues highlighted in the Inspector’s report.

The Interim Director of Children’s Services explained the actions put in place to ensure that the Council listed to the “Voice of the Child” and children and young people’s views were asked and considered in the process to develop services. As a result of this, representatives of children in care were going to be involved in the panel to appoint the new Trafford Children’s Services Director in October 2019. Meeting also took place with foster carers to see how their plans could be developed. Work was ongoing with front line staff on processes, quality assurance and case files, to evaluate strengths and challenges. Furthermore, Trafford was one of the early adopters of LiquidLogic Children’s System; although this was a new case management system, it would be possible to request an update to make it more accessible and user friendly. Other parts of the review looked at front door and first point of reference and access to services, Early Help and Safeguarding.

Members sought clarification on the sharp deterioration of the Ofsted rating from “outstanding” to “inadequate” and the leadership understanding of the situation. It was explained that this was a very complex issue and more clarity would be done once the Committee was able to see the final draft of the action plan. Ofsted stated that the Council was taking the right steps to address the recommendations. The inspector would come back for a monitoring visit within six months. Six visits would take place followed by a final inspection. Members asked what performance indicators were currently being used by Leadership and those used at the time of the inspection. It was explained that Ofsted did not set the performance indicators; the inspector would expect for the local authority to have a good management information system on which to base their plans and the local authority would set its performance indicators. It was also explained that Ofsted had identified some capacity issue within the system in the sense that the demand for services had increased but the work force had stayed the same. This had led to an increased work load and data and intelligence was not being utilised to develop the service according to the demand. Since last Ofsted inspection in 2015, the number of Looked After Children in Trafford had increased over 24%. Measures were being taken to recruit more staff and team leaders. The Committee asked how the “Voice of the Child” was being heard and requested that some case studies were being presented at a future meeting to have a better understanding of how the “Voice of the Child” was being integrated into the process. Members asked when it would be possible to see the final action plan to address Ofsted recommendation. It was explained that it would be brought to this Committee in October, following the presentation to the Shadow Improvement Board on 13th August 2019.

RESOLVED:

1.    That the content of the presentation be noted;

2.    That a further update be brought to this Committee at its next meeting in October 2019 and the update include the action plan to address Ofsted recommendations;