Presentation of the Deputy Strategic Director of Children’s Services

This presentation provides an update on progress in response to the Ofsted Inspection of Local Authorities Children’s Services (ILACS) of Manchester's Children's Services.

The Committee considered the presentation of the Deputy Strategic Director of Children’s Services which provided an update on progress in response to the Ofsted Inspection of Local Authorities Children’s Services (ILACS) of Manchester's Children's Services.

Key points and themes in the presentation included:

• The findings from Ofsted’s inspection which took place in March and April 2022;
• The Council’s Ofsted Improvement Plan and how improvements were being made; and
• What had been achieved so far.

The Executive Member for Children’s Services reported that, while welcoming that Manchester’s Children’s Services had been judged as “good” by Ofsted, the Council was not complacent and was committed to continuing to improve.

The Chair explained the history and context of this item for the benefit of new Members of the Committee and offered to meet with new Members if they wished to discuss this further.  She recommended that the Committee carry out further visits to frontline Social Work teams to ensure that Members knew what was going on in practice, rather than relying too much on what they were told in Committee meetings.  This suggestion was supported by other Members.

Some of the key points and themes that arose from the Committee’s discussions were:

• To welcome the work taking place;
• Social Workers’ caseloads;
• Workforce issues, including recruitment and retention of Social Workers, sickness levels, the use of agency workers and the diversity of the workforce;
• Training for Social Workers, in particular on domestic abuse, and how the success of training was assessed; and
• How to build trust with families.

The Deputy Strategic Director of Children’s Services reported that there was a national debate about how pre-qualifying training prepared Social Workers for their role, including in relation to dealing with cases involving domestic abuse.  He reported that the Council used the Safe and Together model, which was a well-evidence-based approach to working with people who had experienced domestic abuse, and brought in high-quality trainers from the Safe and Together Institute to deliver training to its Social Workers.  He reported that the Council’s policies and procedures, peer support and the quality of supervision they received also assisted Newly Qualified Social Workers in addressing their learning needs.  He advised that the quality of training was assessed through the outcomes for children and families.  He reported that the Council had a target of an average caseload of 18 for Social Workers and 16 for Newly Qualified Social Workers and that over the last 18 months caseloads had been lower than that and that these figures compared well nationally, and particularly to other Greater Manchester authorities. 

The Deputy Strategic Director of Children’s Services advised that lower caseloads, training and improving competence levels, including cultural competence, helped Social Workers to build trust with families.  In response to a question about training on cultural competence, he informed Members about the development of a cultural competency toolkit, the Let’s Talk About Race course, which he reported had received positive feedback, the role of reflective supervision and how the diversity of the workforce could help to improve Social Workers’ insight into this area.  He reported that recruitment and retention had improved, although recruitment was an area which they were constantly working to address.  The Strategic Director (Children and Education Services) provided the Committee with workforce data, including stating that the vacancy rate for Social Workers was 12% and there was a turnover of around 18%, which represented an improvement. 

In response to a Member’s question, the Deputy Strategic Director of Children’s Services outlined the early intervention service which had been commissioned to support families with disabled children and prevent an escalation of needs.  In response to questions from the Chair, he described the audit process for examining the quality of practice in relation to individual disabled children and their families and outlined how the process for Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs) had improved.  The Chair expressed concern at the financial pressures affecting the families of disabled children and the funding challenges facing the Council services and schools which supported them.

The Executive Member for Children’s Services suggested that the Committee receive a specific report on the Children’s Social Work workforce at a future meeting to provide the information which Members had requested, to which the Chair agreed.

In response to comments from the Chair, the Deputy Strategic Director of Children’s Services outlined the improvements that the introduction of the Liquid Logic IT system had brought and how the service had invested in wifi and improving office accommodation.  In response to a question from the Chair, he reported that Social Workers had weekly protected learning time, usually for two hours, and that staff could have additional protected learning time, depending on business needs.

Decisions

1.            To recommend that the Committee visit frontline Social Work services.

2.            To receive a report on the Children’s Social Work workforce at a future meeting.