Agenda item

The Chairman introduced the progress update report, noting the efforts that have been made and the journey ahead which still requires work to be done.

The Strategic Director for Children and Young People, Chris Munday presented the fourth progress update report to the Committee. Mr Munday briefed the Committee about the second Ofsted Monitoring Visit and the feedback letter attached to the report.

He spoke about the encouraging findings as set out in the Monitoring Visit Letter. The Committee also heard about the improvements made and the importance of maintaining and building on the work done so far.

Speaking on the theme Governance, Leadership and Partnership Mr Munday highlighted the training sessions delivered for Members and the sessions scheduled for the next months which includes a review of governance.

In relation to the theme Improving Assessments for Children, Mr Munday noted that much work has been delivered in this area to ensure that plans are robust, particularly around the improvement in positive engagement with partner agencies.

It was noted that prior to this meeting, 7^th March 2018, a Member session was delivered with guest speaker Councillor Dick Madden, Cabinet Member of Children and Families at Essex County Council, about using governance to improve the quality of Children’s Services. The Committee were informed that work towards embedding improvements will continue with Councillor Madden in the future.

Mr Munday spoke about the Right interventions, Right time theme which focused on developing an effective MASH. The Committee heard about the training delivered to partners on how the MASH functions and how to make effective referrals.

As recorded within the Monitoring Visit Letter, developments within this area have been made on the systems and processes to manage workflow and recording are better aligned. The Committee heard about the cultural changes needed to drive improvement, such as enabling staff to understand the importance and meaning of purposeful social work assessments and interventions with families.

The Committee welcomed the progress update report and queried the reasons for the variable standards of case recording found by inspectors.

Tina McElligott, Operational Director Early Help, Children in Need of Help and Protection explained that there was still work to be done for further improvement in this area. She briefed the Committee about the reasons for the variable standard which related to the discussions held outside normal working hours and engagement with other stakeholders such as health workers.

In response to a query on improving engagement in Strategy discussions, Mr Munday noted that work has been undertaken to review how best to continue to improve engagement with health professionals and make Strategy discussions work better as a partnership.

Responding to a comment on improving the quality of assessments, Ms McElligott spoke about the changes made in management framework and discussions held with staff about capability and performance. The Committee also heard about the measures being taken to imbed an improved systematic approach towards helping children, young people and families.

Ms McElligott responded to a comment about the figures for agency staff within the improvement plan data dashboard and explained that for Posts over Establishment there will be certain posts that can be filled by agency staff only. It was also noted that measures have been put into place to ensure assessments are carried out effectively, without unnecessary delays and that assessments do not delay safeguarding of children and young people.

Following a query from the Committee on missing children and young people, it was noted that work continues to be carried out closely with the Police including the sharing of information on a high frequent basis.

The Committee also noted that the focus of the next monitoring visit which will take place in April will be on vulnerable adolescents (child sexual and criminal exploitation and missing children).

The Committee commended the work delivered by the social work practice teams. The Chairman thanked the Committee for the discussion and noted the challenging and rewarding work done towards improving outcomes for children and young people.

It was unanimously RESOLVED:

1.    That the Committee noted the progress of the Barnet Children's Services Improvement Action Plan as set out in paragraphs 1.4 to 1.50.

2.    That the Committee noted details of Ofsted’s monitoring visit set out in paragraphs 1.11 to 1.19 and the monitoring visit feedback letter received from Ofsted attached in Appendix 1.

3.    That the Committee noted and scrutinised the performance information provided in paragraphs 1.51 to 1.61 and Barnet Children’s Services Improvement Plan Data Dashboard attached in Appendix 2.