Agenda item

In December 2021, Ofsted conducted their Inspecting Local Authority Children’s Services (ILACS) reinspection of services for children in need of help and protection, children looked after and care leavers.  This inspection found that Buckinghamshire was no longer ‘Inadequate’, and the overall judgement of Children’s Services was ‘requires improvement to be good’.  The Ofsted’s report highlighted examples of strong practice across the service and also where improvements were required.  A number of recommendations were made as set out in the Cabinet report.

As a result of the continued improvement of services, the revised Statutory Direction issued to Buckinghamshire in July 2018 had been lifted and Buckinghamshire had now entered a period of ‘support and supervision’, in line with all authorities who exit formal intervention.  The service would continue to use its existing Quality Assurance Framework and Check & Challenge process to review practice and monitor progress on a regular basis.  Action Leads would also provide six weekly updates that would consider progress alongside Performance and Impact Reporting (including data trends, quality assurance and key performance indicators).  Progress against the plan would also be a standing item on each Improvement Board Agenda.

RESOLVED –

That the content of the Post Ofsted Inspection Action Plan submitted to Ofsted following the December 2021 inspection be NOTED.

In December 2021, Ofsted conducted their Inspecting Local Authority Children’s Services (ILACS) reinspection of services for children in need of help and protection, children looked after and care leavers.  This inspection found that Buckinghamshire was no longer ‘Inadequate’, and the overall judgement of Children’s Services was ‘requires improvement to be good’.  The Ofsted’s report highlighted examples of strong practice across the service and also where improvements were required.  A number of recommendations were made as set out in the Cabinet report.

As a result of the continued improvement of services, the revised Statutory Direction issued to Buckinghamshire in July 2018 had been lifted and Buckinghamshire had now entered a period of ‘support and supervision’, in line with all authorities who exit formal intervention.  The service would continue to use its existing Quality Assurance Framework and Check & Challenge process to review practice and monitor progress on a regular basis.  Action Leads would also provide six weekly updates that would consider progress alongside Performance and Impact Reporting (including data trends, quality assurance and key performance indicators).  Progress against the plan would also be a standing item on each Improvement Board agenda.

In the discussion which followed, Members welcomed the Action Plan, which would help the Council achieve its aspiration that Children’s Services be rated at least good at the next Ofsted inspection. It was stated that there was no room for complacency and that it was vital that the service continues to improve. The Leader encouraged anyone who had any concerns which could impact this journey of improvement to contact either the Cabinet Member or himself.

In response to a question about how the Action Plan would be monitored and how accountability would be assured, the Cabinet Member explained that the Improvement Board would maintain oversight of the progress being made against the Ofsted recommendations and other improvements required across the service. John Coughlan, CBE, would continue to be the Independent Chair of the Board.

The Corporate Director for Children’s Services assured Members that there was a significant Quality Assurance Framework in place to monitor progress and review practices, which included the carrying out of formal auditing processes. The weekly Check and Challenge afternoons, which involve a thorough examination of a sample of a specific team’s work, have also continued to be carried out. 

Further information was sought on the work of the Corporate Parenting Panel, including a request for the work programme of the Panel to be shared with Members.  The Cabinet Member updated Members on the work of the Panel, including how the voices of children in care would be heard at Panel meetings.

With regards to the national issue of the recruitment and retention of social workers, the Chief Executive stated that Senior Management were in contact with the Department for Education to highlight and raise issues of concern on this subject. Given the increasing level of need in the community, the Council would in due course need to consider how it worked with children to make sure that it was utilising what was a relatively finite resource of social workers. 

In relation to the role of HR in the improvement of Children’s Services, the Chief Executive stated that HR and all of the Council’s support services were absolutely committed to improving this service for children and although the Council’s HR services like all its other services were undergoing some form of structural review, this would not slow down or stop the acceleration of the support for this service in thinking through how the Council could further work to stabilise the social worker resource which was so critical to the outcomes for young people.

RESOLVED –

That the content of the Post Ofsted Inspection Action Plan submitted to Ofsted following the December 2021 inspection be NOTED.