To receive a presentation from the Director of Children’s Services providing an update on the Council’s Improvement Plan and actions taken since the previous meeting of the Committee.

Paul Boyce, the Corporate Director for Children, introduced a presentation relating to the Council’s Improvement Plan.  The presentation took the form of a stocktake, considering the position of the Council two years on from the OFSTED inspection of July 2016 and 12 months since Operation Corzola, through six subsequent Ofsted monitoring visits and looking ahead to the forthcoming 12 months and the Ofsted re-inspection.

Work to date had focussed on getting the basics right, and extensive work had been completed or was underway to ensure clear processes and systems were in place to embed good practice across all areas of the service.  Staff issues had been addressed with ‘back to basics’ training for all staff, improvements made to the frequency and quality of supervision, and working towards manageable caseloads.  Attention had also been focussed on quality assurance and improving the data available to inform decision making.  Impacts of the work undertaken could be identified both through positive messages in OFSTED monitoring reports that practice and processes were demonstrating clarity and being embedded, and through the numbers of children in the system better reflecting what might be expected for an authority of Wirral’s size.

Organisationally, a permanent senior leadership team was now in place, and an integrated children’s services structure was out for consultation.  The partnership arrangement entered into with Knowsley Council was having a notable impact, and the staff move to Cheshire Lines and the introduction of agile working was positively affecting organisational culture and changing people’s attitudes.

In summary, the approach to getting the basics right was having a positive impact confirmed by monitoring visits.  Practice was improving, but much remained to be done.  Staff recruitment and retention remained a risk in certain areas, particularly in social work, but most people were now on board and on message with the direction of travel for the service.  Looking ahead, there was the need to ensure that the pace of development was sustained, to continue to strengthen partnerships both operationally and strategically, to learn from the lessons of the past and embed the learning gained, and to design new safeguarding arrangements.

Councillor David Burgess-Joyce, commenting generally on performance data presented elsewhere on the agenda, queried at what point overall on the curve to success was the Council considered to be at and the implication of the comment that most staff were now on board.  The Corporate Director advised that matters were being progressed and that a point would be reached, with appropriate staffing, of momentum driving improvement.  With regard to a query from Councillor Ian Lewis concerning staff mandatory training, the Corporate Director advised that while courses were re-run, a requirement due to staff turnover, issues related to non-attendance were being considered and that mechanisms, including written warnings, were options.

Councillor Lewis, noting the OFSTED report had stated Wirral’s social work caseloads were not particularly high but noted that cases were passed around social workers, that there were issues with case notes etc., queried whether the Corporate Director was satisfied that clients were now being supported by the minimum number of social workers.  The Corporate Director commented that the previous structure had, in effect, encouraged the pass round of cases, but the new service arrangements were designed to avoid hand-offs unless a child came permanently into care.  The pass round of cases did still occur due to sickness, the use of agency staffing etc., though not to the same extent and the situation remained under review.  While the last OFSTED report received by the authority had indicated that social workers spoken to knew their families well, the Committee was advised there were still a significant number of social work vacancies to recruit to.

Councillor Chris Carubia sought the views of the Corporate Director as to the position of the Council on a scale from ‘broken’ to ‘stable’.  The Corporate Director advised that the Council had moved on, with a clear strategic plan developed around the needs of families and the Council’s own need to reduce demand.  Other services or issues addressed or to be progressed included an integrated youth service, care leavers, added capacity to deal with missing children and protection from CSE.  The Council had a plan to work systematically while also responding to ‘crisis’ issues as they arose, without such issues being allowed to become the ‘day job’.

With regard to social worker recruitment, Councillor Anita Leech referred to a previous City Region discussion that all social workers in the region be paid the same rate.  The Corporate Director acknowledged the previous discussions, but noted that the response of many authorities to difficulties was to pay enhanced agency rates or offer increased pay, both of which would be contrary to such a region-wide agreement and neither of which, it was considered, were effective medium / long term solutions.  The Corporate Director further noted previous experience of a lower paying authority that had no issue with recruitment and retention due to organisational reputation and ways of working, pointing to the importance of establishing a certain culture and ways of working into the authority.

In response to a query from Councillor Leech concerning early intervention services, the Corporate Director noted that some particular features of a good early intervention service included the ability to get the right information to assist families to help themselves, clarity over who stepped in when help was needed, and the employment of skilled early intervention staff who could develop insights into families.  Work had been done in this area and a report could be brought to a future meeting of the Committee.

RESOLVED –

That the Corporate Director for Children be thanked for his presentation to the Committee.