Agenda item

To review the actions and progress relating to the Safeguarding Improvement Plan, and agree further Scrutiny of this area of work.

Please note:

a) You will need to refer to the Safeguarding Improvement Plan distributed to the Panel on 24^th November 2011

b) any questions about the Improvement Plan should be submitted to the Chair and Scrutiny Officer by Thursday 19 January 2012.

(10 minutes presentation – 20 minutes questions)

Clair Pyper, Director of Education and Children’s Services, updated the Panel on the progress being made following the outcome of the Ofsted announced inspection of Safeguarding and Looked After Children in April 2011.  The Improvement Plan was currently being amended to incorporate progress made since it was first published in November 2011, but the Panel was reassured that the objectives in the Plan remain the same.

The Panel discussed the main focus of work, which was the embedding of good practice in children’s social care.  Areas such as the performance of completing core assessments against approved timescales remain a concern but are showing considerable improvement.  Margaret Dennison, Assistant Director of Education and Children’s Services, informed the Panel that two areas that had been given priority were the Early Intervention Strategy and Training which would underpin other areas of improvement.

The Panel considered the work being done to engage partners so that they were fully participating in the delivery of the agenda.  Other areas that the Panel recognised as vital to the success of the Improvement Plan are the inclusion of frontline professionals in the process, and the work being done to ensure this would take place.  The Panel was keen to ensure that there was effective monitoring of progress against the Plan, and Clair Pyper confirmed that this was being done at Senior Management Team meetings, as well as educating frontline staff on how performance information can inform their work on a day to day level.  The Panel was informed, however, that there was a need to establish a baseline on some performance indicators which were new, and these often involved soft information such as parental views, which were difficult to quantify. 

Following questions regarding the recently announced restructure of Education and Children’s Services, the Panel was reassured by Clair Pyper that work is in hand to strengthen the management structure in Children’s Social Care.  The Panel asked about caseload levels which were seen to be relatively acceptable at 15-18. Staff have been allocated to teams which reflect the thresholds for service, and this is enabling them to focus on improvement work.

The Panel discussed the issue of the quality of audits which was raised in the letter from the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State dated 22 November 2011.  Clair Pyper confirmed that this had been looked at but that it was the outcomes of the audits rather than the quality of audits themselves which had caused concern, and the Improvement Plan looked to address the quality of work being carried out by social care staff.

Resolved:

1)  to receive the updated Improvement Plan; and

2)  to regularly review progress against the objectives of the Improvement Plan.