First day for children’s services
STAFF AND SERVICES MOVE OVER FROM COUNCIL
The company which will take charge of children’s services across Sunderland is making its way to the “starting line.”
Together for Children officially begins work tomorrow as responsibilities for children and young people in care or needing additional support are transferred over by Sunderland City Council.
It was proposed in the wake of a damning report by Ofsted backinJuly2015,whichplaced the children’s services and safeguarding departments into special measures when they were deemed inadequate.
Since then, follow-up visits have found strides have been taken to improve performance after“seriousandwidespread” failings were found in regards to its leadership, along with high case loads for social workers, poor information sharing and poorly co-ordinated services for children at risk of sexual exploitation.
In the most recent visit by inspectorsthisyear,praisewas directed towards the better relationships children have with social workers and a reduction in the times they change officer and improvements in the timeliness of assessments for court proceedings, despite high demand.
Staff also say they feel bettersupportedbytheirmanagers, improving the retention of workers. The launch of the company, which will also handle fostering and adoptions, will see it take charge of 828 staff.
These include social care staff, early years, family support,educationandotherspecialistssuchasyouthoffending and substance misuse.
Their workload as it stands sees it take charge of 534 looked after children, which includes foster children, in residential homes and special placements, and 450 youngsters who are subject to child protection plans, where they and their families are given additional support.
Overall, it will be responsible for 57,630 children and young people across Sunderland. Together for Children is the result of a Government decision to push for improvementsintheservicesacrossthe country,withthenewset-upin Sunderland announced as the first of its kind by then-Prime Minister David Cameron.
The plans have been put together by the council in partnership with Nick Whitfield, the Government’s Commissioner for Children’s Services and the Department for Education (DfE).
Alex Hopkins is chief executive of Together for Children and director of children’s services for the council.The council says Mr Hopkins, who joined the council as Director of Children’s Services from Northamptonshire County Council last July, has a proven record in transforming such services.
He said: “What is happening in Sunderland is very unique, because it is the first time a council has voluntarily co-operated with the Government to form an arms length company.
“From an officer’s point of view it’s a very strong and brave decision by its political leadership.
“People have been talked about this being a finishing line, but it’s really the starting line and effectively, from April 1, this will be at arms length from the council and will still continue to work on the immediate improvement work which has been going on. The staffarebrilliantandhavebeen doing a fantastic job in their support for young people and children in the city. I’ve found theyhaverisentothechallenge around the improvements because they are the ones who really want to make a difference.”
Councillor Louise Farthing, cabinet member for children’s services, said work has been ongoing to consult with staff as plans move on to establish the company.
“Wehaveseensomerealimprovements on key measures likethesizeofcaseloadsandthe number of unallocated cases.
“Significantly we’ve also had social workers reporting that they feel more supported, and children, parents and carers speaking positively about the support they receive from social workers, which is a big step forward from where we were in 2015.
Together for Children will be working to keep up that momentum and build on it to make sure that children and young people get the services they need to live safe, happy, healthy and successful lives.”