Agenda item

The Executive Director of Children’s Services will be in attendance to provide the Panel with an update in relation to the Ofsted monitoring visit carried out 13-14 July 2022.

The Executive Director of Children’s Services was in attendance to provide the Panel with an update in relation to the most recent Ofsted monitoring visit carried out on 13 and 14 July 2022.

 

A copy of Ofsted’s findings, in its letter published 17 August 2022, was attached to the agenda for Members’ information.

 

The visit was the fourth Monitoring Visit (plus a focused assurance visit in July 2021) to Middlesbrough’s Children’s Services, with two Inspectors reviewing progress made since the last full inspection in relation to:-

 

·        The ‘front door’ of the service where contacts and referrals are received.

·        Child Protection enquiries.

·        Early Help assessments.

·        Step-up and Step-down to Early Help.

 

A number of positive headline findings were identified as follows:-

 

·        Front door services had continued to develop and improve (overseen by the multi-agency Improvement Board that met every six weeks).

·        Robust and comprehensive quality assurance programme ensuring leaders had an accurate understanding of practice and its impact on children and families, with expansion of the offer of Early Help support to vulnerable children.

·        Stronger and wider partnerships within the MACH (Multi-Agency Children’s Hub).  This had led to:-

-        Improved quality of information.

-        Richness of information-sharing.

-        Better informed decision making.

 

The areas identified as needing more focus included:-

 

·        Workforce instability and increased demand in the assessment service which had slowed down throughput. 

·        Additional pressure on some Social Workers’ caseloads and quality of practice.

·        Unfinished assessments and incomplete records had led to delays and risks being fully assessed for some children.

 

The Executive Director advised that in terms of workforce stability, it remained a challenge to recruit to permanent posts and to recruit agency staff at the present moment, however, best efforts to do so were continuing.  This situation was not unique to Middlesbrough.

 

The findings and evaluation of progress in relation to Early Help were as follows:-

Positives included:-

 

·        Audits demonstrated the majority of practice was rated as good.

·        Interventions were preventing risks escalating and reducing the need for statutory intervention and families’ circumstances were improving.

·        Managers had robust oversight of work (through auditing and performance data).

·        Prompt ‘step-up’ and ‘step-down’ were aligned with children’s needs.

·        Additional teams and team managers had been created and recruitment was ongoing.

·        In the sample seen, assessments were thorough and completed with families.

·        ‘My Family Plans’ included family goals and were a shared plan for families to actively engage in.

 

Some of the areas needing focus within Early Help included:-

 

·        High caseloads impacted on practitioners’ capacity for intensive work. (Recruitment for additional staff had commenced).

·        For some children, actions in the My Family Plan did not address all the presenting risks.  (This issue was addressed whilst inspectors were on site to their satisfaction).

 

Inspection of the MACH identified the following positives:-

 

·        Audits demonstrated that the majority of practice was rated as good.

·        Increased partner presence and Social Worker management posts to ensure capacity for increased remit and responsibilities.

·        Work with partner agencies to improve the quality of contacts and referrals - well co-ordinated response for children in line with their needs.

·        Triage ensured timely responses to Police contacts.

·        Managers made appropriate and timely decisions and oversight.

·        Concerns were RAG rated ensuring safeguarding was in line with initial risk rating.

·        Screenings of contacts and referrals – comprehensive included past history and contact with parents.

·        Strategy meetings were held promptly and improved partnership presence assisted information sharing.  The meetings provided appropriate decision making and children had a plan in place to protect them from escalating harm.

 

Inspectors identified the following positives within the Assessment Service:-

 

·        Child Protection enquiries and Child in Need assessments were thorough and mostly completed in timescales

·        The voice of the child was consistently clear and parents were consulted.

·        Analysis of risk and need were clear and led to appropriate next steps.

·        Legacy of poor practice resulted in some children being referred back to the Service as their sustained needs had not been met.  A monthly Panel to look at re-referrals had been introduced to address this.

·        Consent withdrawn on transfer from one service to another – strengthened senior manager oversight of decisions to close due to lack of consent.

 

The areas needing focus were as follows:-

 

·        25% of audits were inadequate.

·        In the last three months, challenges in managing demand and throughput due to increased volume of demand and complexity of children’s circumstances were causing additional workload pressures and higher caseloads.

·        Some gaps in case recording and case records not finalised leading to children’s records being incomplete.  Could lead to delay in identifying and responding to children’s needs.

·        Social Workers had left the service before finishing assessments and reallocating work had led to delay.

·        Workforce issues remained a challenge and had contributed to difficulties in the assessment service.  Significant number of agency staff and teams, however, a substantial workforce development offer was in place.

 

The Panel was informed that the next Monitoring Visit would take place in November and would focus on Care Experienced Young People.  The Ofsted Annual Engagement Conversation, across Children’s Services, was set to take place in December.  It was anticipated that the next full judgement inspection was likely to take place in February 2023.

 

The Executive Director wished to place on record her thanks to all staff across the service, and to Members, for their dedication to evidencing that ‘Middlesbrough Children Matter’.

 

A discussion ensued and the following issues were raised:-

 

·        A Panel Member praised the staff within Children’s Services and acknowledged that whilst there were still some big challenges to overcome, there had been significant improvement across the service to improve the lives of children in Middlesbrough.

 

·        The Director of Children’s Care referred to the challenges with workforce stability and considered it to be an issue across the whole of the social care sector.  Colleagues within the Tees Valley were experiencing similar challenges.  In the context of Middlesbrough, the challenge to retain and recruit staff was exacerbated by having the highest demand for children’s social care in the country, the extreme challenges facing some of Middlesbrough’s families, and an increase in the complexity of cases.  Social Workers continued to work hard to meet demand.

 

·        The Panel was advised that in terms of the number of referrals received by the MACH, or front door, August was traditionally a quieter time, however, during August 2022 around 1,340 contacts came into the service, and around 500 families per month requiring an assessment from the Assessment Service.  This evidenced the high levels of demand in the town.

 

The Chair thanked the Officers for their attendance and the information provided.

 

AGREED that the update information in relation to the most recent Ofsted Monitoring Visit, for July 2022, be noted.