To discuss and note the contents of the report.

Lin Ferguson introduced the item and reminded Members that Achieving for Children had been inspected by Ofsted in January/February 2020, in what was likely to have been one of the last inspections before lockdowns were implemented due to Covid19. Ofsted graded Children’s Social Care and Early Help as ‘good’. Ofsted had made five key recommendations and an improvement plan had been created as a result. The report being considered by the Panel set out the progress made in terms of meeting those recommendations.

Lin Ferguson said she wanted to highlight where good progress was being made, and where there were some areas that required improvement. Good progress was being made against the recommendation regarding support to care leavers and access to health passports. Ofsted had noted that not all care leavers were being given their health passport – a booklet which gave information about their health and immunisation history – by the time they were 18 years of age. Since the inspection a significant amount of work had been undertaken and the compliance rate was now 100 per cent.

Ofsted had made a recommendation around giving care leavers more of a voice in decision making for their own lives and in service design and delivery. Lin Ferguson said it was accepted this had been an area where more work was required. Since the inspection a dedicated Children in Care and Care Leavers’ Service had been implemented with staff assigned specifically to the role. Feedback had been positive as the children involved liked the improved stability of having a team dedicated to their service area and needs, with some young people likening it to a family. The team includes Personal Advisers, who help young people with new skills such as those relating to finance, which equips them to develop their independence skills.     . There had also been a greater focus on improving Pathway Planning for Care Leavers and the implementation of the Virtual College for those aged 16-18 had led to a large reduction in the number of young people not in further education or training.

The inspection had noted the quality and consistency of recording needed to be improved. Lin Ferguson told Members there was evidence to show that this was an area where improvements had been made since the inspection and highlighted the work that has been undertaken to achieve this improvement. The inspection also      highlighted that health colleagues needed to attend Strategy Meetings on a more regular basis. Covid19 had struck immediately after the inspection and health staff had been required to undertake other tasks. However during quarter four of the report period an upturn in health attendance at Strategy Meetings was noted, although this required further improvement and would be monitored and reviewed at the multi-agency SPA/MASH Board. The consistency of social workers had also been highlighted by Ofsted as an issue. Lin Ferguson told the Panel that this was a national issue, but acknowledged this was one of the greatest challenges facing AfC. If social workers could not be recruited and/or retained there would be a greater reliance on agency workers, who often cost three times as much as a permanent social worker. Lin Ferguson said there were insufficient resources to allow this to continue, and employing agency staff would provide less stability to families requiring a permanent social worker. She reiterated her earlier point that the team providing support to Children in Care and Care Leavers was stable, and the relative lack of stability was in relation to the Support and Safeguarding Service. A three-year workforce strategy was currently being consulted on, which would look at ways of incentivising working for AfC and therefore help to recruit and retain social workers.     .

The Panel noted that a target of 70 per cent had been recommended for health attendance at Strategy Meetings. Lin Ferguson said that this was the next milestone, but a ‘stretch’ target of 95 per cent attendance had been set. She added that attendances had decreased out of necessity due to health staff being seconded to other roles during the pandemic.

Councillor Tisi noted the challenges around recruiting permanent staff to social work positions, and asked how stability had been instilled into the Children in Care and Care Leavers Service. Lin Ferguson said it has always been more challenging to recruit to social work positions in the child protection/court arena as the demands of the role were so challenging and stressful. Lin Ferguson said feedback from social workers indicated they wanted a lesser workload so they could dedicate more time to providing support to the families with whom they worked. It was noted there was a shortfall of 14 permanent social workers in order to get to an optimum caseload and it was hoped the three-year strategy would help, as it would demonstrate to new recruits and staff already in post that AfC were taking the time to invest in their development.

Councillor da Costa asked if there was any possibility of bringing in potential social workers who did not have the necessary qualifications, and put them in a ‘learning on the job’ scenario in the same way as teachers might. Lin Ferguson said that AfC has been bringing in social workers in their first year in practice (ASYEs) and training them on the job. This has been encouraging so far. She added there had been a national campaign asking those who had left the social care profession to come back, and it was hoped four social workers could be recruited for AfC through this. She also said there was a South East social work fair taking place the following week, which AfC would be represented at for the first time.    

RESOLVED UNANIMOUSLY: Members noted the report and the progress made to implement the recommendations made by Ofsted in February 2020.