Agenda item

The Cabinet considered the report on the Outcome from the Ofsted Inspection of Services for Children in need of help and protection, children looked after and care leavers.  The details were set out in the report.

In the ensuing discussion the following main points were made:

·         The Cabinet Member for Children and Families introduced the report, expressed his disappointment and apologised that the inspection results were not better. The report highlighted a number of weaknesses and made 14 recommendations for improvement. The outcome was anticipated and following a Peer Review in April 2015, a number of changes were introduced including the Family Front Door, a Financial Recovery Plan, a Back to Basics Programme, reforms to the Early Help Programme, a cross- Council Improvement Board, appointment of a new Chair of the Children's Safeguarding Board and a number of new appointments to the senior leadership team. Ofsted did acknowledge improvements particularly in respect of the recruitment of a new leadership team, the Strategy for Child Sexual Exploitation, and the Family Front Door. Eight key themes had been highlighted to address the fourteen recommendations and these were underpinned by specific work programmes for each theme. Council would be recommended to increase resources by £3.5m next year and £2.5m the year after with an ongoing uplift of £1.5m. He had made an offer for members from each political group to join the Children's Safeguarding board  

·         The Leader of the Council commented that there were significant shortcomings and improvement must be the top priority for the Council. All councillors as corporate parents needed to support the Improvement Plan. The Ofsted Report also focussed on the important role of partner organisations in supporting the work of the Council in safeguarding children. A detailed report on the Improvement Plan would be brought to Cabinet every 3 months. A visit to best performing Councils in safeguarding children would be arranged and key members would be invited to attend. He paid tribute to the work of staff in very challenging circumstances

·         A member from outside the Cabinet commented that this was an unpleasant wake-up call, and the Council should aim to be an excellent corporate parent. There was a failure of councillors to attend corporate parenting training and this needed to be addressed. Work needed to take place with social housing providers to prevent care leavers ending up in B&Bs at the age of 18. District council representatives on the Corporate Parenting Board needed to ensure that the message about the responsibilities for corporate parenting were fed back the relevant district council 

·         The Chairman of the OSPB commented that we all shared responsibility and scrutiny had a role to help and challenge the administration to ensure that children were safeguarded

·         The Leader of the Council welcomed the active challenge of performance at all levels of the Council. He would update members as appropriate on discussions with the Minister. Ofsted would continue to monitor the progress made by the Council in addressing their recommendations. There would be corporate parenting training provided for all newly elected councillors and an expectation that all councillors would attend this session. Children Safeguarding was the top priority for the Council

·         The inclusion of accountability and responsibility to specific officers to particular themes in the Improvement Plan was welcomed

·         Information on the corporate parenting training sessions should be released as soon as possible and an evening session could be considered. The Leader of the Council emphasised that the role of the councillor was not confined to receiving training but also becoming actively involved in corporate parenting.

RESOLVED: that

(a)            the outcome of the Ofsted inspection report be noted;

(b)           the improvement plan set out as an Appendix to tackle the areas of concern identified by Ofsted by noted and approved; and

(c)            the key policy development as set out in paragraph 22 of the report be noted and the Cabinet Member with Responsibility for Children and Families be authorised to take decisions upon them.