Ofsted raises concerns over pace of improvement at 'inadequate' council
Joe Lepper
Monday, January 23, 2017
A council where children's services are set to be taken over by an independent trust by the summer has been criticised by Ofsted for the slow rate of improvement in standards.
Inspectors conducting a monitoring visit at Sandwell Council in December concluded that the pace of change in tackling workforce capacity is "too slow" and there has been insufficient focus on the quality of support for young people as they prepare to leave care.
A letter outlining the findings to director of children's services Matthew Sampson states that the local authority is "not yet making satisfactory progress overall to improve services for all children and young people in Sandwell".
Inspectors found that more needs to be done to ensure that the area's most vulnerable children and young people, including care leavers, unaccompanied asylum-seeking children and those with disabilities "know their rights and entitlements".
Delays in allocating personal advisers to support care leavers was a particular area of concern.
Meanwhile the way the council works with unaccompanied asylum-seeking children was found to be unsatisfactory and blighted by delays in carrying out risk assessments, resulting in poor placement planning.
Inspectors did note that the quality of auditing case files had improved, but is still not consistent. There has also been a reduction in caseloads but inspectors said there are not yet enough social workers and managers.
In addition, the allocation of cases does not effectively take into account their complexity, which means many children are waiting too long to receive support. Caseloads also remain high in the care leavers' service.
Despite concerns, the inspection team praised the role of the "vibrant and influential" children in care council and care leavers' forum played in projects to support young people.
Children's minister Edward Timpson announced last October that an independent trust must be established to run children's services. The decision followed three "inadequate" judgments by Ofsted between 2013 and 2015.
Simon Hackett, Sandwell Council's lead member for children's services, said: "We value Ofsted's independent monitoring process. It provides a benchmark so we can see both the areas where we've improved and the areas where we need to refocus and step up the pace.
"We acknowledge that the pace of change hasn't been quick enough and are committed to working with the government to establish a children's trust, which will allow us to continue making improvements."
Sandwell Council said last November that the independent trust is expected to launch in summer 2017.
