7 May 2015
Update on Children’s Improvement
This message is for all Children’s Services staff. It aims to update you on the work in
response to recent Ofsted inspections and to generally improve our services to children and
young people. We aim to update you on progress and key issues on a regular basis.
A message from Julian Wooster
It seems incredible, but this is my eighth week in the post of Somerset’s Director of Children’s
Services. It’s been a busy few weeks but I’ve done my best to get out to the offices to meet
staff and get a feel for the service - what’s working well and what needs to work better. If we
haven’t met in person yet, I hope we will in the coming weeks and months.
Last week I presented an update report to a meeting of the Council’s Cabinet (see the
summary below) which was an opportunity to spell out where we are and where we are
going. After nearly two months in the service I gave my view that despite the criticism in the
Ofsted report, there is good and very good practice in many places as well as bad practice.
It will not be easy and there are challenges to overcome – such as the national shortage of
social workers - but the problems in the service can be fixed. We are not alone (there is no
authority in the South West rated ‘good’ under the new Ofsted inspection regime) and cannot
do this alone (good input from partners is critical), but we can and will move forward.
Children’s Services are going to be in the spotlight for the foreseeable future and our
progress closely scrutinised. That will not always be comfortable but it is to be expected
because the work that we do is arguably the most important responsibility this council has.
Response to the Ofsted Inspection
This week Cabinet considered my update report following the Ofsted inspection. You can
read it here
http://www1.somerset.gov.uk/council/board3d/2015%20April%2029%20Item%205%20Ofsted
%20inspection%20of%20children%20in%20need%20of%20help%20and%20protection.pdf
To summarise, there were many criticisms in the report, but also examples of good practice
and progress. There are signs we are starting to turn a corner and we must and are building
on that. The initial aim is to reach a ‘requires improvement’ rating in 12 months.
A team from Essex County Council, which recently improved from an ‘inadequate’ to ‘good’
rating, has been assigned to work with us as an Improvement Partner. Together we are
putting together a 6-month improvement plan, progress against which will be reported to the
Children’s Improvement Board and the DfE.
Initially, we will be carrying out ‘diagnostics work’ to better under problems and issues. There
will be improvement plans for all frontline teams and Essex will also be looking in detail at our
approaches to areas such as early help, workforce and IT.
There are nine immediate post-Ofsted priorities:
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Strengthening strategic leadership
Improving capacity and quality of social work
Developing management capacity and oversight
Ensuring quality of safeguarding across and between all agencies
Systematically identifying children most at risk across all agencies
Assessing the safety of all children who go missing
Embedding Early Help and ensuring partners know how to use thresholds
Increasing local care placements
Achieving permanence for children in care
The monthly multi-agency Improvement Boards will continue to be the key place where our
progress is monitored. Its next meeting is scheduled for 20 May. At last week’s Cabinet, the
Leader also set out some of the additional elected member oversight for our improvement
work:
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A new Scrutiny Board will be established specifically to monitor our improvement work
and progress.
Progress will now be reported to every meeting of the Cabinet.
It is the Leader’s intention to create a new Cabinet post with responsibility for
‘Improvement’, focussing on Children’s Services and Adults’ Services.
Working with the Essex Team
As mentioned above, the team from Essex, which is led by Dave Hill (Essex’s Director for
Schools, Children and Families), is here to work with us and help us as well as report back
on progress to the Education Minister. They have been on the ground for nearly three weeks
and some of you will already have met them as they carry out their diagnostic and ‘deep-dive’
work. It is essential that we are as accommodating as possible to them – provide what they
need and be entirely open with them. They are here to help us and that relies on us helping
them find out what they need. I know that everyone’s time is stretched, but please go the
extra mile because it will be worth it in the long-run.
Early Help conference
To address the embedding of Early Help, an Early Help Conference taking place at Taunton
Racecourse on Monday 11 May. It will bring strategic partners across Somerset together to
refresh our approach to working together and consider the early help strategy. The day will
consist of presentations from key partners such as ourselves, Clinical Commissioning Group,
Somerset Partnership and the Police and showcase examples of where early help is already
working well in Somerset. Colleagues from Essex County Council will also share the
improvement journey they have been on.
Welcome pack
One thing that became clear to me straight way is that we could do more to help staff ‘hit the
ground running’ when they join us either on a temporary or permanent basis. Therefore we
are in the process of developing some ‘Welcome Packs’ to go alongside the existing
induction materials that provide some of the extra information that will help new recruits settle
in and find their way. Having been through the experience myself recently, I know it takes a
while to get to grips with the geography of a new place and the little details like how long
does it take to get from Taunton to Frome? Where are the car parks? And that’s before you
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get on things like the layout of the office, how teams are structured and key contacts within
the service.
The easier we make it for people to settle into Somerset and understand the nuts-and-bolts
of their new place of work, the easier it will be for them to do the day job.
Extranet site
Please remember the extranet site: http://change.somerset.gov.uk/cscimprovement/
It will continue to be the place to find the latest information about the Children’s Improvement
Board work to improve services so please visit the site regularly.
Many thanks
Julian Wooster: Director of Children’s Services
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