Agenda item

To submit a report by the Interim Head of Children’s Services.

The joint report of the Interim Head of Children’s Services (Operational) and the Interim Head of Strategic Services, Children’s Services was presented to the Executive with regard to the CSSIW Report on Inspection of Children’s Services in November 2016.

The Portfolio Holder for Housing and Social Services said that the service accepts the Recommendations within the CSSIW report and will work closely with CSSIW Inspectorate for the next 18 months to improve and enhance the Children’s Services on Anglesey. An Improvement Plan was set up before the inspection in November 2016 and resources has been put in place in the service and further resources will also be made if required. He noted that the Lead Inspector and Inspector from CSSIW addressed the Corporate Scrutiny Committee on 13th March, 2017 and Children’s Well-Being Panel on the 10th March, 2017.

The Assistant Chief Executive (Governance and Business Process Transformation) and Director of Social Services referred to the correspondence attached to the report by the Assistant Chief Inspector of CSSIW which identifies the challenging context the Children’s Services has faced over the last two years. However, she noted that it is important for the service to move forward. The services has been working on the Improvement Plan for over a year and major improvements have been made which is reported at Appendix 2 of the report. She further noted that a meeting with CSSIW will take place again at the end of the week to discuss the

Improvement Plan in some detail and she said that minor amendments will need to be made before it is published formally in due course.

Councillor R. Meirion Jones, Chair of the Corporate Scrutiny Committee said that detailed discussion took place at the Corporate Scrutiny Committee held on 13 March, 2017 when the Lead Inspector, Ms. Bobbie Jones and Mr. Marc Roberts a member of the CSSIW Inspection team addressed the meeting on the key findings of the inspection held in November 2016. The designated Director of Social Services and the Interim Head of Children’s Services also submitted a report on the finding of the CSSIW report and how the services will address the issues raised.  He noted that the Corporate Scrutiny Committee recommended that the Executive accepts the response of the Interim Head of Children’s Services as the basis for significant improvement in Children’s Services over the next 12 to 18 months. As part of an improvement programme a training and development plan is to be put in place from May, 2017 in order to support the Members to monitor and scrutinize progress and the distance travelled. The plan to also include training on performance monitoring of Children’s Services and in particular the quality of services and the experience of individuals receiving support and/or services i.e. the

voice of the user. That the remit and role of the Member Panel be further

developed to monitor and scrutinize progress and distance travelled with the

service improvement plan. This work-stream to include benchmarking against good practice. That monitoring of progress in Children’s Services is a standing item on the agenda of the Corporate Scrutiny Committee. That the Executive prioritises a sufficient resource for the implementation of the improvement plan.

The Chair of the Corporate Scrutiny Committee further said that it is important that the Children’s Services moves forward to prepare a remit and clear objectives for the new Children’s Panel that will come into force under the new administration of the Council in May, 2017. This Panel will be monitoring progress of the distanced travelled, monitoring performance, and will look specifically at quality matters and the voice of the user.

The Chair said that as Leader of the Council he accepted the Recommendations contained in the CSSIW Inspection Report of Children’s Services. He accepted that the retention and recruitment of qualified staff has been an issue within the service but he said that other local authorities also face a similar situation due to the nature of the service and the complex work involved in Children’s Services. He referred to the Improvement Plan and the vision of the service to attract staff and afford adequate training and support the service. The Leader further stated that this service needs continued scrutiny and that a Children’s Service Scrutiny Sub-Committee needs to be established for the next 5 years and beyond. He further stated that a briefing session is to be arranged to raise Members awareness of the remit of the Preventative Service and how it is working alongside the Performance

Plan put in place to address issues within Children’s Services.

The Portfolio Holder for Finance said that he agreed that the retention and

recruitment of qualified staff and sickness has been an issue within the Children’s Services and the considerable increase in cases has also been an issue. He noted that resources has been afforded over the last few years towards this service and any further resources will be inputted into the service. The Executive agreed last summer to establishing a budget for the Edge of Care Team and it is hoped that the creation of this Team will see fewer case referrals to the Children’s Services.

It was RESOLVED :-

· To note the outcomes of the Inspection of Children’s Services that took place in November, 2016;

· To note and confirm that the Recommendations are accepted;

· To note that the Recommendations and actions to address them have

been incorporated in the Service Improvement Plan.