Ofsted finds signs of improvement in Somerset

This was the first monitoring visit to Somerset County Council's children's services since Ofsted delivered its lowest rating in March 2015, following a full inspection of children's services.

Child protection services at the council were also given this rating in August 2013. The government had been considering using its powers to take children's services out of Somerset County Council's control but last year the local authority was granted more time to improve.

In a letter to the council's director of children's services Julian Wooster, the monitoring team said the local authority had responded well to the need to improve and that vulnerable children now receive "a timely and effective response".

The inspectorate also praised the co-location of professionals across social care, health and police within a multi-agency safeguarding hub.

This "ensures that information sharing is timely and robust", Ofsted said.

Overall "partnerships are developing well with education and health", the Ofsted letter added.   

Work to promote a better understanding of thresholds for intervention among partners was also highlighted for praise. The inspectorate said that the "high conversion rate of referrals to assessments" showed that this had become "well-embedded".

Repeat referrals were also falling, from 26 per cent in March 2016 to 19 per cent during their monitoring visit, which took place in November.

Improvements to record-keeping and management oversight were noted. The monitoring team said child protection decisions were "supported by a clear rationale that is well evidenced". This included managers clearly stating to social workers the timings of visits to children.

The relationships between social workers and young people has also been addressed, with inspectors describing professionals' use of finger puppets to encourage children to role play their experiences at home as "innovative".

Staff also feel "well supported and morale is good" with good access to senior managers and training opportunities.

Despite the progress made, inspectors found that the quality of assessments was variable and in some cases did not routinely look at issues such as deprivation, social isolation and sexuality.

The aim of capping caseloads at 14 is also not being met across this large, rural county and inspectors were concerned that the use of agency staff remained high, despite the recruitment of an additional 40 social workers.

Wooster said he was especially pleased that "staff described a changing culture, a focus on delivering consistently high-quality work, supportive managers and improved training opportunities".

He added: "This was just the first in a series of monitoring visits and was primarily focused on the 'front-end' of children's social care. However, comments that the council has responded well to Ofsted's recommendations in 2015 demonstrates the dedication of all senior managers and staff to really make a change across the board."