Agenda item

Officers introduced a progress report on improvement activities that had occurred in the Children and Young People's Service as a result of the Ofsted inspection in December 2013.

In June 2014, Ofsted had endorsed Hillingdon's "Ofsted Action Plan". This had been developed to address 11 areas of improvement that had been identified following the previous "requires improvement" judgement given to the Service. The Action Plan contained 41 specific actions, 30 of which had been completed. It was noted that a number of residual actions had been moved into the Child Services Improvement Plan. There had been significant changes that had affected the service.

Progress had been made in relation to implementation of the Public Law Outline (PLO). The aim was to ensure that children achieved a final care order and permanency plan within 26 weeks. The current average for completed care cases was 34 weeks, down from 57 weeks in 2013/14.

Triage arrangements had been made more robust and services now had a more effective front door entry system. The number of Children in Need cases without a care plan for six weeks or longer had fallen to 250 and it was anticipated that this would soon fall to zero. From April 2015, the average care case in Hillingdon was projected to finish within 25 weeks, down from 34 weeks.

The Chairman advised that Her Honour, Judge Judith Rowe QC, the Designated Family Judge for West London had recognised the improvements made to date.

A Member of the Committee requested that it be noted that the Ofsted Action Plan had previously been presented to the Committee in October 2014, rather than in September 2014 as set out in officer's report. The Member also felt that the real test of the work undertaken would be the sign off of the Improvement Plan by Ofsted. It was questioned whether a number of the actions set out in Action Plan had been achieved. Officers confirmed that they had been.

Officers advised that meetings would be held with services to consider the Plan in detail and that the Plan aimed to take the Service forward, rather than dwelling on the situation as it had been in 2013. The Children and Young People’s Service could not yet be considered to be good, but it was on a continuous improvement journey. In response to a Member question, it was confirmed that the percentage of cases meeting ‘good’ standards currently stood at 35%.

The Committee asked what progress had been made in relation to recruitment of permanent staff and it was suggested that the number of agency staff currently employed was not sustainable. Officers acknowledged that the Service had faced a very challenging situation in summer 2014 and that it had been acknowledged that serious intervention would be required.

The Council was continuing to make use of an external company, Skylakes Social Work, to assist with social work delivery. The situation in relation to turnover of agency staff had improved, with staff now staying an average of 37 weeks. This illustrated the increasing stability of the Service. The ratio of frontline staff to managers was 1:5, which would ensure adequate supervision. Pay within social services at Hillingdon was within the top quartile of all local authorities and a number of channels were being used to recruit staff. In response to a Member question, officers advised that the managed element of the service had given frontline staff capacity to get on with their jobs.

It was confirmed that a Sustainability Plan was being prepared and was due to be presented to the Leader of the Council in the week following the Committee meeting. A significant volume of improvement work had been undertaken since August / September 2014 and it had always been anticipated that improvements would be realised gradually. It was emphasised that the references to ‘good’ in the officer report referred to the progress that had been made and did not represent an overall judgement on the service.

A Committee Member stated that there was significant evidence of service improvement. They were pleased that the figure for case file audits completed by managers had reached 100% and that there had been good engagement with senior managers. This was helping to create stability in the service and an improvement in staff morale. The Member felt that the Ofsted would find a very different service if they were to visit at the current point in time and thanked officers for their work, particularly in relation to Triage arrangements, which had helped to clear the backlog of work.   

Clarification was sought regarding what was meant by the term ‘signs of safety’ in the officer’s report. It was clarified that this was a national framework designedto help practitioners with risk assessment and safety planning in child protection cases. All child protection conferences now used this model.

Committee Members suggested that although there was evidence of improvement, the information provided in the Action Plan could have been provided in a clearer and more accessible format. Officers advised that a sheet of supplementary evidence presented at the Committee meeting provided up to date statistical information covering February 2015. It was acknowledged that some milestones had not been achieved, but that these had now been added to the Service Improvement Plan to help ensure that they would be realised.

The Committee questioned what factors helped to make a good Council service. It was suggested that these included having time and space to think, robust procedures being in place and staff being properly supported. There had been a focus on reducing caseloads, which had been the biggest improvement realised. This was allowing staff to get on with the work that they had been trained to do and was enabling them to work in a more proactive way.

Independent Practice Advisors were now available to coach social workers and work was being undertaken with Human Resources on a Workforce Development Plan. Training was provided in both classroom and on-site environments. Hillingdon was on an improvement journey, but it was likely to be a couple of years before services provided to children in need, children looked after and care leavers would be very good. The Chairman summarised that social workers required support from the workplace in order to be able to share concerns. There needed to be an investment in people and there was a belief that the Council was starting to achieve this.

Another Committee Member reflected that it was great to see signs of improvement. They questioned what steps were being taken to ensure that staff who were performing well were able to mentor other staff and what performance management measures were being taken for staff performing below required standards. Officers advised that staff performance issues would be analysed as caseloads continued to fall. New staff received a three day induction and delivery of the Action Plan would help to ensure that improvements were made. In the event that staff consistently had inadequate cases, this would be identified for managers to take appropriate action. Managers had also been encouraged to raise any issues identified with senior managers.

In response to a Member question, officers agreed that the Ofsted Action Plan had not been provided in a clear and concise way.

Members asked why no up-to-date figures had been provided in relation to measure 3C of the Action Plan, "all cases, closed management sign off.' A baseline figure of 18% for assessments that met 'good' standards had been set in May 2014. By September 2014, this figure had reached 90% and it was anticipated that it would be 100% from March 2015. However, there was no up-to-date figure available because the baseline had changed and it was noted that the quality of assessment audit was an outstanding action. It was confirmed that the Action Plan would need to be recalibrated and that Internal Audit would be scrutinising the plan and the response to Ofsted.

Some Members reiterated that there were gaps in the data provided and that this raised further questions. The progress made in relation to the improvements since Summer 2014 was recognised and the Chairman thanked officers for their work and openness in answering questions at the meeting.

Officers confirmed that a completed Children's Social Care Improvement Plan would be brought to the April 2015 meeting of the Committee.

Resolved: That:

1.    A completed Children's Social Care Improvement Plan be brought to the April 2015 meeting of the Committee

2.    Cllr. Sweeting would provide a list of follow up questions in relation to the report to Democratic Services.

3.    The report be noted.