Report To: Children and Young People Scrutiny Committee

REPORT TO: CHILDREN AND YOUNG PEOPLE SCRUTINY COMMITTEE

DATE: 19 NOVEMBER 2008

REPORT FROM: Chief safeguarding and support Officer

PURPOSE OF REPORT

This is the second half yearly departmental service activity report for 2008 as required by Wrexham Borough Council’s Accountability Framework for Children & Young People’s Social Care Services.

INFORMATION

1.  The core purpose of children’s social care services is to:

1.1 provide support to families in partnership with other agencies that enables them to better care for their child(ren)

1.2 investigate allegations of abuse and take appropriate action to safeguard/promote the welfare of the child

1.3 act as corporate parent for those children who cannot be cared for

within their own extended family by providing residential or foster care

1.4 maintain the full range of adoption services

2.  In planning and delivering the services that fall within the above mentioned areas, Safeguarding and Support Department staff work in close partnership with colleagues from the Learning & Achievement and Prevention & Inclusion Departments. The department also works regularly with Housing and Public Protection and Adult Services Departments. There are close working partnerships with North Wales Police and professionals from the North Wales NHS Trust and Wrexham Local Health Board.

3.  The remainder of this report will identify the significant developments related to the key areas of activity and performance matters.

Staff Recruitment/Retention

4. In common with most other children’s social care services in Wales and

England, the recruitment and retention of registered social workers continues to be a challenge in Wrexham. At the previous report to Children and Young People’s Scrutiny Committee the department had 4 Social Work and 1 Senior Practitioner vacancies. In addition there was 1 part time IRO and 1 Head of Service vacancy. All of these posts have been filled apart from 1 Social Work vacancy which continues to be covered by an agency Social Worker to ensure service continuity.

5. Since the last report the department has had a Team Manager, Manager and Deputy Manager of Tapley and 1 part time Children In Need Co-ordinator post vacancies. The department has successfully recruited to the 3 managerial posts and are currently advertising the part time Children in Need Co- ordinator. This capacity to fill posts and the fact that the department has only 1 Social Work vacancy is in stark comparison to most children’s departments in North Wales and North West England. This has been achieved through a number of methods including close working with the Human Resources Team and actively promoting Wrexham at regional jobs fairs, offering Social Work students placements, as well as sponsoring Wrexham County Borough council’s staff to obtain the degree in social work.

6. It is clear that many of the non pay elements (e.g. full teams, work life balance, access to substantial training and the attractive nature of living and working in the Wrexham area) allow the department to successfully compete against authorities who either pay the same or even higher salaries. However, neighbouring authorities are yet to conclude their Pay and Grading review and the competitiveness of Wrexham’s social work salary structure will need to be kept under review.

Departmental Budget

7. The Chief Finance and Performance Officer and I reviewed the departmental budget following an outturn overspend at the end of 2007/08 of just under £400K. In September 2008 we reported on the matter to Executive Board and to Finance and Performance Scrutiny Committee. We have undertaken to provide a further report in February 2009. The department is currently projected to overspend by £650K in 2008/09. The most significant budgetary pressure areas remain, out of county placements and direct payments. A Task and Finish group comprising of officers across the Children and Young People Service, Finance and Performance, Adult Services and colleagues from Wrexham Local Health Board and the North Wales NHS Trust has been convened to review the problem of out of county placements. The outcome of this group will be reported to Children and Young People Scrutiny and Executive Board in February 2009.

8. It is important that children and young people only become looked after when it is necessary to ensure their welfare needs are met. Consequently the Chief Officer is continuing to work with the Chief Prevention and Inclusion Officer to review the work of the Intensive Support Team. This team prevents children becoming looked after, enabling them to remain with their families and local community or once they have been accommodated supporting their early return home. The Safeguarding and Support department has temporarily increased capacity to support children whose parents misuse substances as this is a significant issue both in terms of child protection and in terms of the need for children to become looked after.

External care placements

9. The current breakdown of external care placements is as follows:

5 placements with independent fostering agencies

13 placements in independent residential care agencies

3 respite placements for disabled children who are not in full time care

10. The allocated budget for externally commissioned care placements is currently £1,114,009. Nevertheless, at the point of submission of this report, there is still a significant projected overspend for the year if our current commitments remain static. This is due to a small but increasing number of children presenting with complex needs whose care cannot be arranged from in-house resources. Members will note that Children & Young People Scrutiny Committee’s 16 April 2008 recommendation to the Executive Board that looked after children’s care placements are seen as a financial pressure in its budget setting for 2009/10 is being followed, although the final decision regarding the budget as yet to be made.

11. Members will note that there has been an increase of 3 out of county residential placements since the June 2008 report of Safeguarding and Support Department activity but that the numbers of out of county respite and out of county foster placements have remained static. This is indicative of the robust arrangements in place for managing decision making in this area in partnership with Wrexham Local Health Board and the North Wales NHS Trust.

Performance Management

12. Members will be aware that the Safeguarding and Support Department has significantly more national performance indicators to report than any other department within the council, consequently the department has developed a rigorous process for engaging practitioners and managers in the achievement of both local and national targets. In 2008/09 the department will report on 49 national indicators and 93 local indicators. The appendix to this report includes information on performance in respect of all 49 national indicators and all local indicators relevant to children in need, child protection, looked after children and young people leaving care. The positive aspects of the department’s performance are not however leading to complacency as it is crucial for children and young peoples’ well being and for the council’s reputation that performance is optimal.

13. The overall picture that emerges from performance management is that the department is supporting significantly more children and young people than last year. The initial response to referrals is continuing to improve and the department is able to allocate qualified social workers to the vast majority of cases. More children are receiving in depth and timely core assessments than in the past. The department is maintaining positive performance in the area of child protection in spite of the increase in numbers on the register. The department and the authority are continuing to act as responsible corporate parents to looked after children with the indicators on placement stability and on education remaining strong.

14. Improvement has been maintained in the majority of indicators but of the 18 indicators reported quarterly through the council’s performance management system (PIMS) there has been a deterioration in performance in respect of 9 of these indicators. Five indicators that were on track in quarter 1 are now slightly off track and 3 indicators that were slightly off track in quarter 1 are slightly off track. These three indicators all have nationally imposed targets of 100%. The decrease in performance in respect of all of these indicators relate to a small number of cases and is directly linked to the increase in the overall numbers of children receiving a service from the department as detailed in the appendix to this report.

15. There is however, one indicator that was slightly off track in quarter 1 that is significantly off track. This concerns the completion of initial assessments within timescales. The performance management team is re-examining the data to ensure that it accurately reflects current practice. However, it is known that the department has experienced an increase in initial assessments this year. In quarter 1 the department completed 118 initial assessments but in quarter 2,152 initial assessments were completed and this has impacted on the department’s capacity to complete initial assessments within timescale. A working group of relevant managers and practitioners has been set up to review work processes and workloads across assessment and family support services to bring performance back on track. Members should note that whilst performance against the target has deteriorated, all children referred for initial assessment are allocated social workers who are in active contact with the family and are able to respond in a timely way to child welfare concerns.

16. The appendix to this report outlines the department’s overall position with regard to reported performance. From this it can be seen that the numbers of looked after children has seen a slight increase. The number of children registered under child protection procedures rose considerably last year. There has continued to be a more gradual increase in numbers during 2008/09. The department’s understanding of this profile is based on a significant increase in the number of assessments and child protection investigations undertaken during the last year leading to an increase in child protection conferences.

Inspections

17. The department has undergone 2 further CSSIW inspections so far this year since the Tanydre Children’s Home in March 2008. The first of these concerned Tapley Avenue Children’s Centre published on 1st September 2008 and the second concerned the Fostering Service published on 5th November 2008. The department has received notification that the council’s Adoption Service will be inspected in January 2009.

18. The inspection of Tapley Avenue, which is a residential short break service for disabled children, highlighted concerns in relation to the structure and fabric of the accommodation, supervision and training of staff and management and handling of medicine. These issues have been addressed through the implementation of an action plan from August 2008 onwards. The inspectors commented positively on relationships between the children and staff and noted “… that children are helped to feel emotionally comfortable and safe within the home.”

19. The inspection of the Fostering Service is extremely positive. It identified that the service had responded well to the requirements and recommendations made at the 2007 inspection. At the time of the current inspection Wrexham County Borough Council had 81 approved carers with 80 children in placements. Young people who commented to the inspectors through questionnaires said “they liked where they were living, had opportunities to pursue a range of hobbies and interests and understood the ‘rules of the house’” Good training programmes were provided to foster carers. Progress was noted in establishing a motivated and enthusiastic team and the manager was commended for her influence on the service in a relatively short time. It was also noted that the Fostering Panel was effectively managed. The areas for improvement the inspectors identified were the process to review the end of placements and the need to develop more creative ways of engaging children in the planning and review of the service. These comments have been noted and the good practice recommendations will be acted on.

Other developments

20. The department has been instrumental in Wrexham Local Safeguarding Children Board’s (LSCB) participation in the Welsh Assembly Government Pilot of the new LSCB Self-Evaluation Questionnaire which will inform the future development of the LSCB and will contribute to the development of the inspection regime for key local partnerships.

21. The department is working with colleagues across the Children and Young People Service and partners in the Local Health Board and the North Wales NHS Trust to develop an Integrated Children with Disabilities Service. A project manager came into post on 29 September 2008.

22. The department is also undertaking the role of the host authority for the development of North Wales Adoption Project.

CONCLUSION

The current overall state of children’s social care services in Wrexham remains generally positive with continued year on year improvements in the majority of aspects of all service areas. The key challenge facing the Council is its ability to maintain the required level of funding to deliver high quality, outcome focused services and ensuring that all performance indicators are on track.

RECOMMENDATION

The Scrutiny Committee is requested to consider the information about children’s social care services provided in this report.

BACKGROUND PAPERS

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WEBSITE INFORMATION

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Report No. CS&SO/10/08S

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