DfE good practice council rated 'inadequate' for children's services
Neil Puffett
Tuesday, March 17, 2020
A council that was held up as a beacon of best practice for improving children's services across the country has been rated "inadequate" by Ofsted having previously been judged as "good" four years ago.
Inspectors found that the quality and impact of practice in East Riding Council had deteriorated significantly for specific groups of children since the last Ofsted inspection in 2016.
In 2018 the council was announced as one of eight new "partners in practice", as part of the expansion of a government peer-support programme that sees leading children's services departments work with other local authorities to improve standards.
The council had previously been rated "good" in 2016. But during the latest inspection, despite noting a strong network of early intervention services to support children and their families in their own communities, as well as some effective core social work practice in locality teams, Ofsted found "widespread weaknesses in practice and management oversight" for vulnerable children in need of help and protection.
Inspectors said thresholds for access to children’s social care services are not fully understood or applied by agency partners or by some staff in the council's early help and safeguarding team.
"Some children remain in early help services when the risks are too high," the inspection report states.
"The front door is not currently resourced sufficiently to meet the demand generated by increased contacts and referrals, and management oversight of the front door is weak. This is leading to delays in children’s needs being identified and responded to appropriately and to unassessed risk for some children."
Meanwhile, referrals to children’s social care by other agencies, such as Humberside Police were found to lack basic information to enable staff in the early help team to make timely and appropriate decisions to safeguard children. Ofsted noted that delays by Humberside Police in referring children to the early help team following domestic incidents leave children at unassessed risk and without support.
But despite the concerns, Ofsted said services for children in care and care leavers have remained strong overall.
"There is a marked difference in management oversight in this part of the service," the report states.
"Robust management arrangements and lower caseloads have resulted in workers being supported to work tenaciously to improve children’s experiences and their progress.
"The care leavers’ service continues to provide an excellent service for this vulnerable group of children," it adds.
A statement published by the local authority described the judgment as "very disappointing", adding that it "does not reflect the range of effective, successful work carried out by our highly professional, committed and caring staff across all the services and across the East Riding".
"The council is absolutely committed to providing the best possible services for children, young people and their families and, while we disagree with a number of aspects of the report, we acknowledge there are areas of improvement and we will be making every effort to do so.
"The council continually strives to keep improving all aspects of our work and this is a constant and evolving process. Children's services are no different and the inspection came during a period of transition.
"We will now be working with Ofsted, the Department for Education and other partners to make sure this transitional process is as effective as possible and that any improvements are made in a timely manner.
"Like with any other local authority facing unprecedented demand and severe financial constraints, our staff work in often very difficult and challenging circumstances. However, we are dedicated in our aspiration to provide the best possible service and outcomes through continual learning and development. This includes improving where necessary and constantly reviewing our working practices and effectiveness."
