Ofsted recently returned to Knowsley for its second monitoring visit, focussing on Child Protection, Children in Need and identifying risk.
Inspectors noted that progress is being made, particularly around Section 47 investigations, child protection planning and auditing of casework and that increasing workforce stability at a senior leadership and management level is supporting purposeful and appropriately focused improvement planning for children and families.
In addition, Inspectors noted that there are robust governance arrangements in place to support the oversight of progress against the improvement plan, and political and corporate support for children’s services are strong.
Other key findings from this latest monitoring visit included:-
- Significant financial investment from the Council is supporting service development.
- Stability in the workforce has largely been achieved.
- Recruitment and retention have been prioritised, 20 new social work posts have been created which have reduced caseloads to enable improved quality of practice and children’s experiences.
- Quality assurance processes are now more structured, underpinned by a new quality assurance framework which is providing leaders with more effective oversight of practice.
- Regular use of performance data, timely quality assurance reviews, collaborative audits, the use of a moderation panel and the support of the Social Work Academy, are contributing to a more accurate understanding of service quality.
- For most children, partners demonstrate a good understanding of risk and appropriately share information, which leads to timely decision-making and actions.
- For most children, Section 47 investigations are appropriately detailed and focus on the current risks, while considering the child’s history and ensuring the voice of the child is captured within assessments.
- Children are visited regularly and in line with their needs with positive relationships developed with their social worker.
- For most children, child protection plans robustly address children’s needs and risks well, with timebound actions.
- Pre-proceedings work, as part of the Public Law Outline (PLO), is developing well, with effective tracking and oversight by senior managers.
- The exploitation and contextual safeguarding service (Shield) was highlighted as good practice and seen to provide timely intervention and support, when risks of criminal and sexual exploitation had been identified.
- Practitioners are positive about working in Knowsley – they feel listened to, well-engaged and can feel a real change for the better.
As expected from any monitoring visit, areas for improvement were identified including the consistency of the quality of practice for children in need, multi-agency planning and interventions for children in need, safety planning and the identification of risk, quality of assessments, variations in the frequency and quality of supervision and the response to domestic abuse. In addition, the quality and timeliness of some decision making in the Multi Agency Safeguarding Hub (MASH) were highlighted. Action plans for these areas have been strengthened and will be progressed as a priority.
Cllr David Lonergan, Cabinet Member for Children’s Services, said “I’m delighted that external Ofsted Inspectors are noting the progress we are making on our improvement journey, particularly as we are just a year into our three-year plan.
“Ensuring children and families receive the very best support and services from us remains our key priority and we have adopted a whole-council approach to ensure that all council services wraparound this priority.
“We know we still have a way to go, but I’m reassured that we are moving in the right direction and we will continue to build on the improvements we are making and prioritise the areas where we need to make improvements.”