St Helens children's services downgraded to 'inadequate'
Nina Jacobs
Tuesday, November 5, 2019
Children's services in St Helens have been rated "inadequate" for "widespread and serious failures" in the quality of services for looked-after children and care leavers.
An Ofsted inspection of St Helens Metropolitan Borough Council in September found that while children that required help and protection were not at risk of immediate harm those in care experienced "significant drift and delay".
The inadequate judgment follows criticisms of the department in an Ofsted focused visit of children in need and child protection services carried out in July 2018, and is a downgrade on the "requires improvement" rating it received in 2014.
In rating services for looked-after children and care leavers "inadequate", inspectors highlighted concerns over a "lack of understanding" in relation to thresholds and "too much drift and delay", including for children subject to pre-proceedings.
An independently chaired children's improvement board set up by the council in September 2018 and a further focused visit two months later had identified "some progress at the front door", the report adds.
"However, there are widespread and serious failures in the quality of services for children in care due to significant drift and delay in permanence planning.
"Management oversight in this area of work is ineffective, and staff have limited awareness of the need for early planning for permanence.
"This is compounded by a lack of tools and systems to help the authority understand the extent of the issue and intervene to remedy the situation at the earliest opportunity," the report concludes.
Inspectors highlighted that senior leaders recognised "practice deficits" identified by them but said they were unaware of the "extent of the problem".
The report flagged areas of improvement for children in need of help and protection since the last inspection, but said "significant inconsistencies in the quality of practice across the services" still remained as well as "unnecessary delays" in achieving permanence for children in care.
"This is in the context of a significant increase in demand at the front door, high caseloads in some teams and workflow issues that have contributed to further drift and delay," the report adds.
Recommendations outlined by inspectors to the council include improving the quality of social work assessments and plans to ensure that intervention is "purposeful" and progress with children and families can be measured.
The inspectorate also wants the council to improve its permanence planning from the "front door to adoption" to ensure that all permanence options are achieved in a timely way for all children in care.
Ofsted judged the impact of leaders on social work practice with children and families and the experiences and progress of children who need help and protection to be "requires improvement to be good".
Sarah O' Brien, St Helens' director of children's services, said that while she was disappointed on the overall outcome of the inspection, she was pleased Ofsted had recognised the improvements made since the visit last July.
"We knew from the findings of the report in July 2018 that there was much work to do in order to make the necessary changes to the department and that this process would need both additional investment and time to improve," she said.
"Ofsted have recognised in this report how changes over the last year are starting to make a positive difference in areas such as the multi-agency safeguarding hub, adoption, care leavers and early help, but most importantly inspectors did not find any children at risk of immediate harm.
"Our main area for improvement must now focus on the need for better permanence planning for looked-after children, to ensure that all children know what their long-term plan is, so that they feel safe and secure about their future.
"I want this for all our children and to make our support for vulnerable children and young people as good as it can be."
