Buckinghamshire County Council OFSTED – Challenges and Opportunities Chris M Williams Chief Executive Buckinghamshire County Council CCN Conference 16 November 2015

Buckinghamshire County Council Ofsted Judgement Overall Judgement – Inadequate 1.Children who need help & protectionInadequate 2.Children looked after & achieving permanenceInadequate –Adoption performanceRequires Improvement –Experiences & progress of care leaversRequires Improvement 3.Leadership, management and governanceInadequate 4.Safeguarding BoardInadequate “Political Leaders and Chief Officers state that social care is not the highest priority for the Council” 2

Buckinghamshire County Council 3 The Perfect Storm Significant rise in the number of referrals –Police referrals in 2012 (600) and in 2014 (1800) –School referrals 2012 (700) and in 2014 (1500) High levels of vacancies and interim staff High caseloads with staff overwhelmed Very large overspend within budget (£4.8m) Reorganisation of staff and adoption of new ways of working Ineffective management Ofsted came too soon to see the impact of the changes

Buckinghamshire County Council What Ofsted Said (Aug 2014) Managers and partners lack a sense of critical enquiry about the impact of poor performance on vulnerable children Partnership working is undeveloped and ineffective Absence of co-ordinated early multi-agency support Limited recognition of responsibilities and sharing accountabilities for helping and protecting children Partners too slow to take full responsibility for their roles in promoting children’s welfare

Buckinghamshire County Council What DfE Advisers Said (Feb 2015) Council made a “sluggish start” in addressing the issues Corporate centre slow to support improvements required by Children’s Services Fundamental lack of strategic partnership building which creates a significant gap in improvement work Tendency for partners to demand action from the authority whilst claiming changes are an imposition rather than true partnership working All partners need to engage with the Improvement Plan and be held to account for their contribution

Buckinghamshire County Council The Story So Far… 6

Buckinghamshire County Council Highlights of Improvement Journey WorkstreamProgress 1 Secured significant additional investment to support the improvements Leader, Chief Executive and Lead Member work-shadowing frontline staff to hear their views Increased commitment from partners Courageous Conversations 2 All cases are allocated Developed Social Work Minimum Practice Standards to ensure quality interventions with children Introduced a new Audit Framework and tool to monitor the quality of the intervention with children Introduced 5 Practice Improvement Managers Established Social Work Academy with Bucks New University 3 Reviewed pay and conditions of social care staff Overseas recruitment campaigns – 9 Romanians Permanent Appointment of DCS, Service Director and 3 Heads of Service 7

Buckinghamshire County Council WorkstreamProgress 4 Increased Front Door from 13 to 30 social workers Reviewed the Thresholds document and guidance Workshops to develop co-ordinated Early Help offer Review of MASH and commitment of partners 5 Reviewed all out of county placements Reviewed process for Initial Health Assessments Increased number of CLA and Care Leavers with Care Plans Foster Carer Recruitment Campaign Adopter Recruitment Campaign 6 Additional office space for social care staff iPhones for frontline – apps to work remotely 7 New BSCB Chair Review membership and TOR of Board and sub-committees 8 Highlights of Improvement Journey 2

Buckinghamshire County Council Key Performance Measures Number of unallocated cases Number of contacts and referrals by source Number of Agency and Permanent staff and vacancies Workload by team Number of Children in Need Number of Looked After Children Assessments completed in 45 days Child Protection Plans Quality of Files through Audits 9

Buckinghamshire County Council Chief Executive’s Contribution Ensuring the whole Council supports the Improvement Plan Leading workshops with Headteachers Weekly progress meetings across 7 workstreams Attending Improvement Board and Safeguarding Board Monthly budget monitoring meetings Reporting to Cabinet and Select Committee Leading work on partnership working and Early Help Monitoring of key performance indicators across BCC Chairing Strategic Co-ordination Group on CSE Follow up on action plans Work shadowing staff and floor walking to listen to staff Recruitment and retention across BCC 10

Buckinghamshire County Council Key Points from LGA Peer Review Significant effort, and resources, made to address the issues BUT much remains to be done Lack of acceptance of responsibility for failure by Council and its partners Visibility of Leaders (officers and Members) with front line staff Corporate Services to act with more urgency Awareness of different cultures and vulnerable groups Inconsistencies in basic social work practice Lack of full time Health presence in MASH Critical path for programme of change 11