Ofsted finds improvement at 'inadequate' council
Neil Puffett
Monday, January 30, 2017
Efforts to improve the quality of provision at a children's services department rated "inadequate" by Ofsted in May 2015 are progressing well, inspectors have concluded.
West Berkshire Council was given the lowest rating in May 2015 due to a range of problems that inspectors said left children at risk of harm.
But a recent monitoring visit found that efforts to address issues are having an impact.
"Based on the evidence and cases seen by inspectors during this monitoring visit, the local authority has made positive improvements to services for children," a letter outlining the findings of the visit, which took place on 5 and 6 December last year, states.
"Further work is needed to ensure these improvements result in consistent practice across the service."
Inspectors said a recruitment and retention campaign has reduced the number of temporary managers and social workers, meaning fewer children are experiencing changes of social worker as a result.
Social workers were also found to be knowledgeable about the children they work with and use direct work to understand the children's experience.
Meanwhile, effective arrangements in the children's advice and assessment service means that decisions about contacts and referrals are made promptly, are overseen by managers and are, in the large majority, appropriate.
The majority of assessments were found to be thorough, include relevant information and consider the risks to, and individual needs of, all children in the family.
However, for some children there could be delays in decisions being made when agency checks are made by the multi-agency safeguarding hub.
Inspectors were also concerned that not all children at risk of sexual exploitation receive robust intervention that reduces risk quickly enough. And case records of children who go missing do not always record what steps have been taken in response to the missing episode or how they have been kept safe.
In August 2015 children's minister Edward Timpson appointed a private firm to oversee improvements at the local authority.