By Joe Locker, Local Democracy Reporter
Inspectors have noted areas of strong improvement in Nottingham’s inadequate children’s services.
Nottingham City Council is one of only 13 local authorities in the country currently delivering services to children which are rated as ‘inadequate’ by the watchdog Ofsted.
Inspectors gave the Labour-run authority’s services the lowest possible rating in 2022, because they were so poor some children had been left at risk of harm.
An action plan was put in place and progress is being monitored by an improvement board, while regular Ofsted visits have been taking place to ensure vital changes are made.
So far three monitoring visits have taken place, with the third having been conducted in November last year.
Progress will be discussed at a Children and Young People Scrutiny Committee on January 25.
Documents published ahead of the meeting say: “Following each of the three monitoring visits inspectors have noted evidence of tangible progress being made with some areas of ‘strong’ improvement being noted across the three visits.
“As anticipated inspectors have also noted areas where further focus is required but have been clear that these are areas of which senior leaders are aware and have clear plans for further improvement.”
Inspectors noted there had been investment in posts to increase front line and management capacity, which has helped manage workload and demand, increase management oversight, reduce caseloads and improve staff morale.
Staff were also said to have been developing strong and meaningful relationships with their children and young people, know them well and act as good parents.
Some of the remaining issues include an inconsistency in the quality of assessments or plans, as well as the frequency and quality of supervision to help progress outcomes for children in a timely way.
Some children and young people also continue to experience “too many changes of social worker, due to difficulties around recruitment and retention of staff, an issue being experienced not only in Nottingham but nationally”.
“Further work with partners [is] needed to reduce delays in assessment and intervention which some children and families continue to experience,” documents add.
The most recent monitoring visit evaluated the support to care leavers aged 18 to 25.
In her letter, His Majesty’s Inspector Margaret Burke said: “Senior leaders in children’s services have built on the progress seen at the previous monitoring visits.
“They have achieved this despite the considerable pressures on the leadership within the context of complex wider financial and governance challenges for the council.
“They have remained resolute in their improvement journey and have continued to make step changes and service modifications, which are improving the quality and impact of practice for vulnerable children and young people and their families in Nottingham City Council.”
However she adds: “There have been further financial investments in children’s services, which have been necessary to ensure adequate staffing and manageable caseloads.
“However, many of these additional resources are temporarily funded and, without the continuity of these resources, the current pace of change and service developments is unlikely to be sustained.
“A small number of former relevant care leavers who have returned to family members before leaving care at 18 years of age have not been offered the appropriate level of care-leaving support.
“Some of these young people have been inaccurately considered as qualifying care leavers, which limits their access to support.
“Qualifying young people are not routinely made aware of their entitlements, which means that some who may require a service may not know they can ask for support when needed.”
