Agenda item

To consider a report of the Executive Director Core Services and the Executive Director People (Item 4a attached) in respect of the Ofsted ILACS Report (Item 4b attached)

The following witnesses were welcomed to the meeting:

Rachel Dickinson – Executive Director - People

Mel John-Ross – Service Director – Children’s Social Care & Safeguarding

Margaret Libreri – Service Director, Education, Early Start & Prevention

Councillor Cheetham – Cabinet Member for People (Safeguarding)

Councillor Saunders – Cabinet Support Member for People (Safeguarding)

The Executive Director People introduced this item by explaining that following an Ofsted Inspection of Children’s Services on the 8^th – 19^th October, 2018 Barnsley’s Children’s Social Care (CSC) Services had been judged to be ‘good’ across all areas with only four recommendations being made.  She asked to place on record her thanks to all staff and to Elected Members for their dedication and hard work in helping to secure such a fantastic achievement.

The Committee received a joint report of the Executive Director Core Services and Executive Director People summarising the main findings of the Inspection and the full Ofsted report was appended.

In the ensuing discussion and in response to detailed questioning and challenge, the following matters were highlighted:

·         In response to specific questioning, the Committee was informed of the changes introduced to the Service’s IT system to ensure that it was fit for purpose.  It was noted that this was a bespoke service tailored to the needs of Barnsley and was also used by Stockport.  Staff within Children’s Social Care Services had all benefited from the provision of new devices so that they could now work flexibly and remotely and this had made a significant difference to efficient working practices

·         It was noted that there were strong multi-agency partnerships within the Borough which ensured good participation at child protection conferences, with children offered the opportunity to have advocates to support them.  There was political commitment and financial investment and self-evaluation showed that leaders knew their services well.  There was also a commitment to protect the budget as well as continued investment

·         Work was now progressing on the four outstanding Ofsted recommendations

o   The Action Plan had been prepared and submitted

o   Recommendations for improvement were being managed and progressed within the Service Improvement Plan

o   Work was progressing within the Barnsley Safeguarding Children Board which had agreed a strategy and resource allocation to address all forms of child exploitation which included appropriate training

o   Risk assessments were being undertaken to ensure that there was a better understanding of the wider risks to which young people were exposed in the community including the timeliness, appropriateness and quality of return to home interviews in situations where children were reported missing from home and in care.  It was anticipated that a preliminary report on the findings of meetings held with appropriate staff and agencies would be available by the 8^th March, 2019

·         It was reported that significant progress had been made in the timeliness of the Section 47 assessments.  Arising out of the discussion, reference was made to recent audits which indicated that in relation to Private Fostering, no children were seen to be at risk of harm and that the appropriate arrangements were robust

·         Members in expressing their congratulations to the Executive Director People and her staff for their hard work and dedication in the progress that had been made since the previous Ofsted inspection questioned how this momentum was to be maintained. 

o   The Executive Director commented that this was a team effort and needing to ensure that the right staff were in post

o   She commented that there was a tried and tested architecture in place to ensure continuous improvement both within the Authority and with Partners

o   In relation to future resourcing, she commented that the Authority had invested, and continued to invest additional resources into the Service and it was important in the future to look to protect those resources notwithstanding the fact that difficult decision would have to be made

o   Early intervention was key and the benefits of this could be demonstrated by the way that services had been shaped and developed from 2015/16 in relation to Children’s Centres and the shaping of Family Support Services

o   In addition she felt that the scrutiny process was key in ensuring developments took place and continued into the future as the Committee acted both as a critical friend but also held her and her staff to account and offered significant challenge

·         It was noted that Ofsted had determined that children and families benefit from a good early help offer.  The Service had been redesigned to be delivered through a family centre 0–19 model and this ensured a more equitable distribution of targeted support at the heart of communities and where it is most needed.  It was also noted that a Select Committee report recently published indicated that the first 1,000 days of a child’s life were critical to that child’s success and this view was shared by witnesses present.  It was felt important, therefore, that despite difficult funding decisions, work with early years should be continued as this was deemed to be critical.  The Executive Director reported on the significant progress made by the authority to ensure that children were ‘ready for school’ and the benefits of this could not be overestimated.  She commented that Barnsley had a network  of support for families in early years and beyond.  Arising out of this discussion, reference was also made to the impact of good early help services

·         Ofsted had commented on how Barnsley schools worked with other services and agencies to improve the safety and educational outcomes of pupils.  There was, however, always a need to improve the outcomes of vulnerable pupils (those with SEND, Free School Meals, Pupil Premium etc.) and the way in which the Service used available data to measure successful outcomes was outlined

·         In response to detailed questioning the Executive Director outlined how the Service had addressed gaps in mental health provision through a respectful challenge to the Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG). This had contributed to an improvement in timeliness for access to the child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) initial assessment, and senior managers from both services who were jointly tracking timeliness of interventions offered by CAMHS. Some children in care who required direct mental health provision and support had not been receiving a timely enough service for treatment and following appropriate meetings between all involved it was pleasing to note that performance was now continually improving.  The CCG was keen to ensure the best possible service locally and had commissioned a review into the work of CAMHS, the outcome of which would be key in driving performance improvements

·         Arising out of the above, reference was made to pre-birth and milestone assessments and the work undertaken by Public Health Nursing and Early Help Services in ensuring that appropriate support was in place was outlined

·         The support to care leavers and those leaving education was outlined.  It was noted that a National Government Advisor had been impressed with the services available and Barnsley had been held up as an example of good practice.  It was essential that services were individually tailored for the child/leaver concerned and that they were appropriately supported so that they could fulfil their aspirations

·         The Executive Director commented that an aspirational audit had been undertaken of Y9 pupils in care.  It was important to ensure early intervention, to engage pupils in the curriculum and with school, to improve the quality and access to post 16 education and improve the care leaver experience by providing links to both education and employment offers

·          Questions were asked about Social Worker retention and recruitment given that some authorities appeared to be increasing the number employed.  The Executive Director commented that Ofsted had commented on the good work undertaken by Social Workers.  The majority of Social Workers lived and worked in Barnsley and were proud to work for the Authority.  They also felt valued and supported. The Authority undertook an annual Social Worker ‘health check’ and over three years there had been significant improvements in provision.  Their casework had been reviewed and the workload was now manageable, however, the workforce would be kept under review to ensure that there were sufficient staff in post

RESOLVED that the report be noted and that witnesses be thanked for their attendance and contribution and for answering Members questions.