Action is ordered on council’s children’s services

A YORKSHIRE council has been served with an “improvement notice” by the Government following a damning report into its children’s services department.

The notice means a government-appointed adviser will work with Bradford Council and leaders must provide an improvement plan setting out how it will respond to recommendations made by Ofsted, which judged the service “inadequate” in October.

Inspectors said the service had “rapidly deteriorated” in the past 18 months, and children in need of protection had been left “at risk of serious harm.”

The drop in quality was mainly put down to a huge increase in demand for services, coinciding with “significant” number of social workers and managers leaving the council to work for other local authorities.

The council’s executive yesterday approved an extra £2.46m to deliver the improvement plan, but this still has to go through the budget consultation process.

If agreed, the money will go on recruiting extra social workers and workplace development.

A Shadow Improvement Board, which is chaired by chief executive Kersten England, is already working on plans, pending the setting up of an Improvement Board that will be chaired by an advisor appointed by the Department for Education.

A new Interim Strategic Director for Children’s Services, Gladys Rhodes White, has already been appointed.

Ms Rhodes White has held a number of interim turnaround roles, including at Manchester City Council and Buckinghamshire County Council.

Council leader Susan Hinchcliffe said: “With both the demand for services and the cost of delivering them rising rapidly, we will continue to work with other local authorities to secure a better deal for children’s social care from central Government.

“We’re absolutely determined that we’re able to deliver services that mean all our children have the best possible start in life.”