Government to consider intervention in Somerset children's services

A report published by the inspectorate said there had been a “corporate failure” to keep children safe in the county, pointing to “continual churn” in the senior leadership team over the last 10 years – including eight different directors of children’s services (DCSs) – as an issue that has hampered improvement.

Inspectors also highlighted the high use of temporary staff to cover both managerial and social work posts as something that has limited the authority’s ability to achieve a consistently acceptable standard and quality of work.

In a letter to Somerset County Council leader John Osman, children’s minister Edward Timpson said he has appointed advisers to oversee the council’s response to Ofsted’s findings, assess its plans to improve, and report back on whether it “has the capacity and capability to make the changes necessary for safe and effective provision”.

The letter states that the findings of the review, which is due to be completed by June, will be used as the basis of a decision for “whether alternative delivery arrangements are necessary for children’s services in Somerset to improve”.

The review will be led by Dave Hill, DCS at Essex County Council, who will be vice president of the Association of Directors of Children’s Services from Wednesday (1 April).

Prior to the latest Ofsted rating, Somerset was found to be inadequate in terms of child protection services in August 2013.

Last October, Somerset County Council announced it had terminated the contract of interim DCS Peter Lewis, who had been in place for around 18 months, for failing to deliver improvements at the struggling authority quickly enough.

Lewis, who claims he informed the council of his decision to leave the post before his contract was terminated, blamed a lack of authority-wide support for change and an “arcane” IT system as the key reasons for slow progress.

Somerset County Council has said it accepts the latest inspection findings.

“Services are not good enough and improvements need to be made quickly and I am here to help make that happen,” director of children’s services Julian Wooster, who took up post earlier this month, said.

“There are examples of good practice, signs that we are starting to turn a corner. We are building on those signs of improvement but it has to happen faster.”

In separate Ofsted inspections, children’s services in both Enfield and Leeds were found to be "good".