By Charlotte Webster
A children’s service has been judged to be ‘inadequate’ by Ofsted inspectors following evidence of grosse incompetence.
The finding made by Ofsted Last weekrisks of long-term chronic neglect or domestic abuse were “not recognised” for some children.
Torbay children’s services was found to have tolerated long term chronic neglect or domestic abuse which included the failure to recognize domestic abuse, in a small number of cases, child protection medicals were not pursued despite disclosures of physical abuse. Insiders from Ofsted told The Eye Of Media.Com that their reports on children’s services are conducted ”meticulously and comprehensively”, having regard to all known facts and measured against ”prescribed standards”.
”Many children’s services appear to cut corners or simply abandon known procedures of operations”, an Ofsted Spokesperson told The Eye Of Media.Com. What the findings of our inspectors revealed was a lot of incompetence and inadequacies in the way Torbay Children’s Services operate. Although there were some notable improvements since the last inspections in 2015, the level of professionalism still falls below an expected bar”. The Ofsted report highlights systemic failings in Torbay’s Children’s Services, and particularly noted that recommendations made by Ofsted following their last inspections have not be followed. Torbay was first rated inadequate in 2010, and ares till struggling to turn things around 8 years later.
The damning report highlights how the failing children’s services have made limited improvements since Ofsted’s last inspection in 2015. Torbay’s children’s services as ‘inadequate’, and it said not enough improvements had been made since its previous inspection in 2015. In March, Torbay Children’s services was taken over by Plymouth City Council under joint director, Alison Botham. A letter by her Majesty’s inspector, Emmy Tomsett read: “…some children remain in situations of known risk of significant harm for too long without effective action being taken to protect them and monitor their welfare.”
The most recent report paints a gloomy picture for the council in terms of its improvements. Ofsted’s report said:
“Overall, the pace of change has been too slow and some recommendations from the previous inspection are not met,” Ofsted said. It added there were “fundamental weaknesses remain in management oversight and supervision and in identification of and response to risk, as well as workforce development and capacity”.‘Frequent changes of social workers’.The report highlighted how the quality of social work practice had been negatively affected by “frequent changes of social workers, all of whom are dealing with a range of complex cases”.
“For example, visits to some children do not adhere to recommended timescales. The quality of assessments and plans are poor, and, until very recently, legal action has not been instigated soon enough to remove some children from risk of harm.”
Inspectors noted that the children’s services have taken some steps to address the problem, with agency staff in some cases joining forces with the council to take the workforce above ‘establishment’ to help reduce caseloads.Inspectors criticized the services failure to do exit interviews to understand why social workers. Whilst improvements in help and protection services like decision-making in the multi-agency safeguarding hub, inspectors concluded there was “weak managerial oversight at all levels”.
“This is characterised by unacceptable drift and delay in progressing work…A significant number of children have remained without the help and protection that the need, sometimes for several months,” the report said.
SUPERVISION
Inspectors have called for immediate action to strengthen supervision and management oversight, and to ensure children were seen within prescribed timescales and seen alone, Ofsted found. Children in Torbay are considered to be below national averages in academic learning and also in the area of effective provision for their mental and physical well being.
Director of children’s services, Alison Botham, acknowledged the judgement was thorough and challenging , and called for sustained improvements to meet Ofsted standards judgement from Ofsted, but said they were implementing recommendations requiring immediate action.
“The inspection was rightly challenging, thorough and rigorous. In addition to making clear recommendations for further action, the report also recognises improvements that have been made to date. I believe that the new arrangement provides a sound basis for a better pace of consistent and sustained improvement,”