Presentation on behalf of the Cabinet Member for Children and Young People by the Assistant Director for Children's Wellbeing and Partnership
Minutes:
Following the 1 September 2022 Safeguarding Overview and Scrutiny meeting it was agreed that scrutiny of the Children’s System Transformation would include four monthly feedback, with the first three of these being a brief outline of developments that highlight key progress and concerns, and the final feedback being a full report. The Committee now considered a presentation for the first of the briefings, highlighting what was working well and areas of further work.
The Programme Structure had been changed, adding a separate programme board for Children in Care and for SEND Improvement. Communications and Engagement now ran across all four programme boards rather than sitting as a standalone programme.
Members noted the additional investment approved by Cabinet to support the work force programme. This investment had been requested as a result of pressures in the system, with numbers being higher than those expected through the modelling process due to Covid.
Activity to date and “next steps” were shared with the Committee for each programme board. Three risks across the whole Transformation process were highlighted, these being:
a) capacity of the workforce whilst still recruiting to new roles;
b) scope and scale of cultural change underway within the Service taking time to embed and realise outcomes; and
c) potential future inspection of service diverting resources temporarily.
The number of children currently in the care system was 1384. However this figure was nuanced, being a reduced figure of 1284 if considered without the recent increase in unaccompanied asylum seeking children.
Members queried whether there remained delays in the adoption process that may impact on the number of children within the care system. They were aware of the new regional adoption agency Together4Children which helped support a broader pool of adopter families. However, delays in adoption still existed due to a backlog within Court proceedings.
The Committee asked for clarification over the type of work undertaken to ensure the health and wellbeing of staff during these significant changes. This was undertaken in a variety of ways, including person to person and specific to the individual employee’s needs. Support training sessions around wellbeing were also available as well as opportunities to raise concerns through We Talk monthly conversations and through staff surveys. Members also queried the percentage of staff still working from home and how this was managed. Most staff now worked a hybrid system, working a minimum of two days in the office and the remainder either from home and/or external visits as appropriate. Enabling this flexible and balanced approach to working helped with the recruitment and retention of staff.
Members were aware that the Accelerated Progress Plan (APP) for SEND improvement was in place. They heard that the implementation plan for the APP was moving at pace, working to the Department for Education (DfE) timescales. Making a standalone SEND Programme Board had ensured the APP’s part in the Transformation Programme was highlighted. The DfE had been pleased with progress made and had been sharing Staffordshire’s ways of working with other LAs as examples of improved good practice.
Members noted the work undertaken by SCYVS to develop a coproduction charter that outlined what was understood by “coproduction” and how to ensure its continuous implementation. This helped support one of the principles of the Transformation System, working with families and making them part of the solution rather than implementing predetermined responses. The Committee were aware of previous criticism from Ofsted of Staffordshire’s work around coproduction in connection to SEND. Coproduction was extremely difficult as there were so many different partners involved, often with very differing views, including those of parents and carers, schools, health, and every part of the children’s social care system, from Early Help onwards. Considerable work had been undertaken to find an effective solution to this process, including much work with the Parent’s Forum.
Within Children’s Services coproduction had been brought into every part of the system and had formed part of the planning process throughout the whole Transformation programme. Members were reminded that the aspiration of the Transformation process was district-based services that enabled the right help at the right time and at the earliest opportunity. Members were also informed that consideration was being given to extending the role of the MASH as part of the coproduction process, with the possibility of this work being from tier 2 rather than from tier 4, giving another opportunity for appropriate information sharing and support at the earliest opportunity.
Members queried whether there was too much focus on restorative practice at the possible exclusion of other solutions. Restorative practice was the way in which staff would work, problem solve, lead and manage. However, this would only be successful if staff had the right skill level, time, space and partnerships to enable this approach to work.
Whilst the Committee welcomed the developments, they asked at what stage figures would be available to show improvements made and evidence progress. Following the additional investment approved as part of the Medium Term Financial Strategy (MTFS) it had been agreed that quarterly progress reports would be shared with Cabinet to monitor developments. It was envisaged that the extra funding would support more in-house staff and less use of agency workers, which would ultimately reduce costs. The Committee were also informed that a performance matrix already existed that would help identify progress.
Resolved: Members welcomed the progress made to date.