The Peterborough Evening Telegraph
Improvement for children’s
Government review of Peterborough City Council children’s services shows progress - but heads of department admit there is still more to do
Parents in the city should be confident their children are safe after inspectors noted an improvement in children’s services.
Ofsted inspectors visited Peterborough City Council’s children’s services in an unannounced visit in January, and rated the department as ‘ adequate’ – an improvement from the inadequate rating given in 2011
Sue Westcott, the recentlyappointed executive director of children’s services, said the Ofsted report was evidence the department was turning things around.
She said: “We are all delighted with the outcome.
“The inspectors said children are being effectively protected, and that is very important.
“This is the whole council’s responsibility, and the inspectors have acknowledged that we have taken the lessons from previous years very seriously.”
Mrs Westcott said the department’s turnaround had been the result of hard work, but also an increase in social workers in the city.
She said: “We bought in a new leadership team very
“Most important thing is for children to be safe.”
Cllr Sheila Scott
quickly,
“We have also made great strides to reduce the number of agency staff and started a campaign to bring in more permanent staff.
“We have increased the number of social workers, and this has reduced the average case load from around 25- 30 to 17.”
The service has been heavily criticised over the past 18 months, and Councillor Shei- la Scott, cabinet member for children’s services, has stood firm in the face of opposition councillors’ calls for her to be removed from post on a number of occasions.
Mrs Westcott added: “We want to improve further, and I believe gaining an outstanding grading is achievable.
“One of the strengths highlighted in the inspection was ourself- assessment work, and we know what our strengths and weaknesses are.”
Although inspectors said there had been improvements at the council, they did say there was plenty more work to do.
Inspectors said there were 19 points for the department to address over the next six months, including four issues that need addressing immediately.
These included ensuring rationale for decision making by managers is clearly recorded on case files, and making sure children’s social care reports to child protection conferences are made available to all parents and young people before the conference.
Mrs Westcott said: “This report is a platform for us to move forward.
“We know the areas where we need to improve, and with hard work we can make this department even better.”
Following thereport’s publication, Cllr Scott said she thought the result was ‘ vindication’ for the work staff had put in. However, she said there was still lots of work to do.
She said: “I feel the effort weput in leading up to the Ofsted inspection, and the effort that has been put in by everyone over the past 18 months has been vindicated.
“We have established Peterborough is quite capable of delivering safe, effective services to children most in need.
“The most important thing is for children to be safe in the city.
“The inspectors recognised the efforts we have done to make sure this is the case.
“This is only the first part of the work, and an adequate rating is not where we want to be by the time the next inspection takes place.
“There is still lots of work to do, but this report is very good news.”
The next Ofsted inspection will take place within two years, and Clr Scott said the goal was to get an outstanding rating as soon as possible.
She said: “It is vital to do this stage by stage.
“If we had j umped to a ‘ good’ rating, there would have been a danger of slipping back.
“We have to keep the improvements sustainable.”