Agenda item

This report provides a summary update to Members on progress and developments within Children’s Services. This annual update is brought to members of the Children and Young People Overview and Scrutiny Committee to support the Committee in its role in reviewing and scrutinising performance of the Council’s Children’s Social Care Services.

Discussion:

The Deputy Director, Children and Adult Services introduced the report which updated Members on progress and developments within Children’s Services.  She explained that the service was last inspected by Ofsted in September 2015, when it was found to be ‘requiring improvement’.  Many actions that were identified had been undertaken and those that remained outstanding and/or challenging were addressed, along with further actions, within the ‘Promoting Practice’ Plan for 2018.  She then identified some of the key developments of the service, including: -

·         reorganisation into four children and family hubs which were made of multi-agency teams creating a tangible early help offer;

·         the launch of the First Response Service which comprised of co-located ‘Single Point of Access, Multi-Agency Safeguarding Hub and social work assessment teams, which had been successful;

·         The creation of two Domestic Abuse Co-ordinator roles working across the four hubs and the First Response Service;

·         The reduction in the average timescale of care proceedings;

·         The introduction of the Mind of My Own app (MOMO) whicih affords young people the opportunity to share their views.  Medway was confirmed as one of the top users of the app nationally and plans were in place to fund a version of the app for younger children and children with communication difficulties;

·         An increase in the percentage of care leavers living in suitable accommodation;

·         Workforce recruitment and retention continued to be a priority and Medway was now offering a competitive offer for social workers which was showing improvements in workforce sustainability.

The Deputy Director, Children and Adults also commented on the local area inspection of Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) which had taken place in December 2017 and had identified some areas of significant weakness.  She confirmed that the written statement of action had been developed and was awaiting sign off but showed strong signs of partnership working to address the issues raised.  Furthermore, she commented on missing children and explained that of the 351 children with missing episodes in 2017-18, 63% had accepted the offer of help and confirmed this was an area of focus to improve. 

Members then raised a number of comments and questions, which included: -

·         Predicted performance at next Ofsted – in response to a question about the predicted outcome of the next Ofsted inspection, the Deputy Director, Children and Adults explained that the service was working towards the framework to achieve a good rating, although explained that the inspection framework was changing.  The new type of inspection, ‘Inspection of Local Authority Children’s Services (ILACS)’, consisted of a shorter inspection period that looked more heavily at case work.

·         Accommodation for skilled staff – in response to a Member’s concern about staff recruitment and retention and accommodation availability, the Deputy Director, Children and Adults, confirmed that accommodation had not been raised as an issue of recruitment or retention of staff.

·         Road map of services at children and family hubs – Following a question about services provided by the hubs that have replaced the children’s centres, the Deputy Director undertook to provide Members with a road map of services and contact details across the hubs so Members are able to signpost constituents to the relevant services.

·         Demo of the MOMO App – A Member asked that this be brought to Committee, recognising it was already listed on the Committee’s work programme as date to be determined.

Decision:

The Committee noted the report.