Issue - meetings

The Board considered a report from the Executive Director of Children’s Services, which provided an update on the progress of improvements being made within Children’s Social Care Services.

In November 2023 Halton appointed a permanent Director of Children’s Services (DCS) and in January 2024, a permanent Director of Children’s Social Care and Early Help was appointed.  This had led to a re-focus for Children’s Social Care and a request for corporate support to significantly improve services.  The last 6 months had seen significant changes being implemented around culture and practice.  It was recognised however, that there was still a significant journey of improvement required.

The report outlined some key areas of focus within the improvements as follows: recruitment and retention of staff; training, development and CPD; stabilisation of the management team; a service re-design project; children in care and care leavers; and local area partnerships and accountability.

Following discussions, the following responses were provided to Members questions:

·       Examples were given of the not-for-profit organisations used in Halton for children’s residential care and it was noted that these organisations charged less, as they did not profiteer from children’s trauma;

·       Conversations were currently taking place on how the Local Authority could invest and benefit from more use of these types of organisations;

·       The recruitment of Newly Qualified Social Workers (NQSW’s) was discussed and the steps being taken to support them as they started their careers.  The Social Workers Academy was involved in the development of NQSW’s in conjunction with the line manager;

·       It was recognised by the Department for Education (DfE) that an inexperienced workforce could add pressure to the system, with supervision for example.  It was commented that Halton was not alone in having a new workforce in the social work area and as mentioned earlier, support had been added that was not there previously.  NQSW’s also have the opportunity to work with experienced social workers within the teams;

·       It was commented that not all NQSW’s were youngsters as some had previous health, childcare and community worker experience to add to their roles;

·       Further to the Ofsted inspection and critique regarding instances of neglect not being identified, it was reported that the legal processes had been strengthened in this area; and

·       The Portfolio Holder invited the Board to visit the ASYE (Assisted and Supported Year in Employment) Programme, to see the value of the role they played.

Overall Members felt that the culture had changed positively since the establishment of the new senior management team and they were optimistic about the future.  Officers’ would provide this feedback to all the staff.

RESOLVED:  That the report is noted.