Agenda item

The Committee considered a report of the Director of Children and Family Services informing of the progress made against the Ofsted Continuous Improvement Action Plan in responding to the Single Inspection of Children’s Social Care in November 2016.  A copy of the report marked ‘Agenda Item 8’ is filed with these minutes.

The Director informed the Committee of the outcome from the recent Ofsted Focused Visit, which had taken place on 10-11 October.  Steady and realistic improvements in relation to the First Response Service had been identified since the 2016 Ofsted inspection along with a more stable workforce.  The recent visit had acknowledged a series of positive outcomes including that senior leaders knew the service well and had gained an understanding of social work practice from a range of activities, and that staff felt well supported and safe in their practice.  It was noted that senior leaders knew what the strengths of the service were, and were aware that there was much more to do to achieve the goals.  Five areas for improvement were identified from the inspection, and these were contained within the letter from Ofsted:

·         That partners needed to improve their consideration of thresholds, the quality of referrals and their understanding of consent;

·         The timeliness of social worker visiting and talking to children who had initially been assessed as not being at immediate risk of harm;

·         The speed and quality of management decisions when making Section 47 Enquiry considerations needed to be more consistent;

·         The clarity of recording outcomes;

·         The quality of assessments, including these being completed within the child’s timescale.

It was reported that good progress was being made against the 17 Ofsted recommendations within the Continuous Improvement Action Plan (OCIAP), with 11 now rated as green. 

Arising from the discussion, the following comments were raised:-

i)             In response to a query around the percentage of social worker vacancies in the department, it was agreed that this would be circulated to the Committee.  This was a relatively small number, but details would be provided of where the vacancies existed within the department.  Consideration had been given to the current level of pay for social workers in Leicestershire, and over the last few months, a market premia had been agreed for Team Manager and Senior Practitioner posts which had resulted in an improved rate of experienced staff applying for these roles.  As of 1 October, a similar market premia for Level 3 social worker posts had been agreed.

ii)            There was an improving picture in not only the performance of staff and how they were utilised and supported, but also in the quality.  It was difficult to rate the progress around recruitment and retention as no specific target had been set, but the department was well on track to recruit to those posts that needed to be recruited to.  However, it was acknowledged that this area remained a key area of challenge, particularly as experienced staff were often replaced by newly qualified social workers, who required more support and training.

iii)           There was also an improving picture around workloads.  Agency staff continued to be used where permanent staff were not in place and this helped to ensure that all social workers had an appropriate case load.  Some concern was raised around the fact that workload and recruitment and retention were linked, and it was therefore essential that the quality of the service was not undermined by an unstable workforce. 

iv)           Action 3 in the OCIAP related to social worker caseloads and was currently rated as amber.  The Director of Children and Family Services confirmed that this rating would remain for the time being, as the recruitment of social workers fluctuated so regularly.  There was confidence that the Action was heading towards a RAG rating of green, but that it was too early to move to this yet.

v)            In relation to a query around fast tracking, it was confirmed that this did not apply to all the newly qualified social workers.  The County Council had bought into the Government’s Frontline scheme which was a fast track programme, and the department currently had four trainee social workers who had been recruited via this scheme.  These had been through a very rigorous selection process nationally and undertook intensive training during their first year in the role.  These were in addition to the current vacancies within the department. 

RESOLVED:

(a)  That the report be noted;

(b)  That the letter regarding the outcome from the recent Ofsted Focus Visit be circulated to the Committee;

(c)  That the Committee be provided with details of the level of social worker vacancies in the Department, including percentages.