Agenda item

The Head of Children’s Social Care referred to the meeting held on 24 September at which the findings from Ofsted’s focused visit to Children’s Services in July were discussed. The Panel noted an action plan in response to the findings was required to be submitted to Ofsted within 70 working days of receipt of the letter.

The Head of Children’s Social Care delivered a presentation which outlined the response to areas identified for improvement (for copy of presentation see file). 

Confirmation is awaited from Ofsted that it is satisfied with the action plan and a progress update will be provided to the Panel in due course.  The Head of Children’s Social Care responded to questions and comments from the Panel.

Councillor Bainbridge referred to the planned improvements in relation to ensuring good quality assessments for young people living in supported accommodation aged 16 to 17 and asked whether these improvements will apply to young people above the age of 17, up to 25 years of age. The Head of Children’s Social Care clarified that the Ofsted letter referred to a specific cohort of young people aged 16 to 17, who are able to live independently, with a measure of support. The area for improvement identified seeks to ensure that the assessments for those young people are fit for purpose. The Council continues to care for young people and care leavers up to the age of 25.

Councillor Hunt referred to the strengths identified and asked what opportunities exist for staff who are not qualified social workers but have the skills required to work alongside social workers.  The Head of Children’s Social Care responded that these staff include family workers and staff in teams such as Supporting Solutions and Child Exploitation and they perform key roles within the service.  To assist staff who have the skills to become qualified social workers, the service has partnered with the university to offer a social work apprenticeship scheme.

With reference to the sufficiency of placements, the Chair asked the Panel to be aware of an increase in fostering and adoption marketing in order to boost recruitment.  The Vice-Chair commented that she would like to see more promotion on the Council’s website including better signposting to the appropriate contacts.  Councillor Coult drew the Panel’s attention to the fostering page, adding that sharing the page through social media is a useful method of increasing the reach.  Councillor Deinali added her support for the use of social media saying she had shared facebook posts which had to led to enquiries.

Alison Ferguson, Designated Nurse for Looked After Children informed the Panel that her employer had recently received an award for being a fostering-friendly employer and they have worked with the local authority and health colleagues to encourage others to adopt this approach.

In response to a query from Councillor Hunt, the Head of Children’s Social Care informed the Panel that the fostering service regularly holds ‘Meet the Team’ events where prospective foster carers are invited to meet informally to gain more information.  These sessions are held throughout the county and at various times of the day, to ensure they are accessible to all.