Agenda item

10.1

The Committee received a presentation from Carly Speechley (Director of Children and Families) providing an update on the Children and Families Improvement and Recovery Plan.

10.2

Ms Speechley reported on the Service’s vision and principles in terms of ensuring that Sheffield’s children and young people were safe and supported to achieve their full potential, and referred to the Improvement and Recovery Plan, the vehicle for the delivery of the Council’s vision.  She reported on the outcome of the external Ofsted regulation focused visits on the Front Door in April 2017 and Edge of Care Services in October 2017, and referred to the progress made against the Improvement and Recovery Plan in terms of the workforce, quality and budget.  Ms Speechley referred to statistical information regarding the numbers of children in care and children on the Child Protection Register, from April 2015 to August 2018, and the numbers of children in care, in terms of the rate per 10,000 children and young people, both in Sheffield, and as a comparison with figures in other Core Cities, from April 2016 to August 2017.  She concluded by referring to the challenges facing the Service, together with details of how the Service intended to address such challenges.

10.3

Members of the Committee raised questions, and the following responses were provided:-

·             It had been identified, as one of the challenges, that residential care provision was a competitive market, with private companies looking to make a profit.  In some cases, particularly when there were a number of different organisations vying for the same placement, this resulted in increased costs. As a result of this, the Authority was constantly looking at what it could do to improve its offer in order to remain competitive.  The Authority worked closely with the larger providers with the aim of trying to get them to prioritise Sheffield children and young people in terms of placements, and charge a reduced rate for the second child in a family.

·             Although it was inevitable that there would be a budget overspend this financial year, it was hoped that the position would improve over the next four years.  The Authority spent approximately £30 million on placements, which was considerably less than some of the other Core Cities. 

·             In terms of the recruitment and retention of social workers, whilst the position had improved considerably over the last few years, some experienced staff were still moving to other local authorities on the basis that they were paying higher salaries.  The situation was not being helped by the fact that, whilst there was a national salary framework for a number of other public service workers, there was no such framework for social workers.  Following comments raised at a previous meeting, about a successful approach in Gloucestershire  regarding the problems of retaining experienced social workers, the Service had made contact with them, and as a result, had managed to recruit one retired social worker, who was currently working three days a week, as well as continuing to try and attract other former workers back.

·             The Council was part of a consortium which had implemented the White Rose Framework, to attempt to overcome the issues with independent foster agencies. This approach has worked better with prospective adopters, but not particularly well with foster carers.

·             Whilst the Authority did not hold any information on the outcomes when arrangements had been made for older children and young people to remain with their families, there had been a considerable amount of research undertaken with regards to adverse experiences encountered by such children and young people.  Work would continue to look at the level of need children and young people were at, and what level of intervention the Service could offer families to stop any adverse conditions worsening.

·             The implementation of the new IT system (Liquid Logic), on 23^rd July 2018, had proved very challenging.  Whilst it was an improved system, it had caused a number of problems for a considerable number of staff and, as a means of support, four workers and IT champions had been used in order to assist staff.

10.4

RESOLVED: That the Committee:-

(a)      notes the information reported as part of the presentation, together with the responses to the questions raised; and

(b)      expresses (i) its thanks to Carly Speechley for attending the meeting and responding to the questions raised and (ii) its thanks and appreciation to all members of staff in the Children and Families Service for the progress made in respect of the Improvement and Recovery Plan.