Behind the Rating: Full support for the frontline

Speaking to Sarah O'Donovan, a referral and assessment social worker at Barnet Council, it soon becomes clear why Ofsted's latest inspection of her department noted good staff morale, bolstered by a "strong leadership culture".

"The thing that really stands out in Barnet, particularly in the referral and assessment teams, is the way our managers are always available. No matter what your difficulty is, there's always someone you can talk to," says Sarah.

It is evidence of what Erica Ferrari, acting service manager for the social care division, refers to as an "open-door policy" between management and staff - one which ensures no member of frontline staff is alone in "carrying the risk". She says: "Our duty managers sit alongside their teams all through the week, offering advice and support as and when it's needed."

Accessible managers

Senior managers — including Ferrari — also make themselves available to staff, for instance by inviting them to attend meetings of the risk management panel. Staff and their line managers can book into a session with the panel to discuss different approaches to the most challenging referrals.

The panel includes senior managers from safeguarding, the children in need service manager, and Ferrari herself, "so we can look at cases in a number of different ways and come up with as many possible solutions as we can".

"For the social worker involved, this is a clear message that we are supporting them fully in their role and accepting responsibility for the decisions we make together," says Ferrari.

The presence of "readily accessible" managers was one of the key strengths identified by Ofsted in its report on the November 2010 inspection of contact, referral and assessment arrangements in the north London borough.

This approach, said the inspectors, "provided support to frontline workers in a way that both minimises risk and promotes good outcomes for children".

It also helps the referral and assessment teams stay motivated, despite dealing with caseload volumes typical of a London borough. Ofsted noted a "stable, suitably qualified and experienced staff group with a good blend of experience and skill", borne out by the fact that there are just three agency workers across the seven referral and assessment teams.

Other key strengths identified in the report included the placement of a common assessment framework adviser in the referral and assessment teams, which has helped establish a more co-ordinated multi-agency response to early intervention.

Barnet has also started deploying domestic violence specialists to work with each team, to help social workers deal with the increasing number of referrals related to family violence and aggression. This has resulted in a "prompt and effective response" to domestic violence referrals, and has also led to the development of an early intervention pilot called the Safer Families Project.

The programme, targeting families with children aged up to 11, features a specialist parenting group, stay-and-play sessions, and one-to-one or family counselling.

Links to training

Training opportunities were also identified for praise - in particular the well-established partnership with Middlesex University, which offers a route into qualified social work for council workers. Recruits work as unqualified social workers for two years, and are then funded to complete the MA course, provided that they commit to return to Barnet Council for a further two years as qualified social workers.

It is the route that O'Donovan took into social work after completing a degree in childhood studies in 2003. Eight years on and still at the borough, she is as committed as ever.

The findings of the unannounced inspection contributed to the annual children's services assessment for 2010, which concluded that the authority was performing "excellently" overall.

HELPFUL HINTS FROM BARNET

• Seek out new ideas from other authorities. Children's services leaders from Barnet visited Newcastle to find out about the city's partnership between children's services and police, which includes social workers based at police stations. Barnet has developed its own version of the scheme, and from early 2011 a referral and assessment team will have its own office at the main local station
• Recruit from within the council to bolster staffing.
• A training partnership with Middlesex University has proved a great way to maintain staffing levels and create a motivated and stable workforce
• Seek out children's views on child protection. Ofsted picked up on Barnet's innovative approaches in this area, particularly the Junior Local Safeguarding Children Board, which has what acting service manager Erica Ferrari describes as a "scrutiny role" over the real safeguarding board

DEMOGRAPHICS

• Location North London suburb
• Description Most populous borough in London
• Population 349,800
• Children and young people aged up to 19 87,641 (25 per cent of population)
• Children in care 311 (as of March 2010)