Agenda item

The committee received a verbal update on the council’s strategy to achieve an Ofsted’s Outstanding rating at its meeting on 7 September 2022. The full minutes can be accessed here.

This was followed, at the committee’s meeting on 4 November, by a report on plans and progress to date, including the four strands of work detailed at the previous meeting:

·       Self-assessment.

·       Service development.

·       Roadmap to excellence.

·       Line-of-sight.

At its November meeting the committee resolved to receive an update on the progress made, which is presented at this meeting, and to consider how Overview and Scrutiny can best add value to the process and the four strands of work focused on.

An Ofsted focused visit took place on 24 and 25 January 2022 looking at the council’s arrangements for care leavers. A letter summarising the findings of the focused visit is included with this agenda.

The Committee were reminded that they received a report at their November meeting on the progress made towards Getting to Outstanding. They had requested further updates so that they could consider how they could best add value to the process.

The Corporate Director People provided some background information about the development of Children’s Services over the past few years, explaining that performance was measured through a Performance and Outcomes Board. She noted that a large amount of self-assessment had been undertaken and results were shared with Ofsted. She, along with the Chief Executive of Wiltshire Council, had commissioned a test of assurance to assess the progress made, including through a series of interviews with officers. The Director stressed that Wiltshire Council was a sector led improvement partner and welcomed the opportunity to share experiences to support other LAs in their development.

A summary of the findings at recent Ofsted inspections, as well as the priorities for further development, were set out by the Director of Families and Children’s Services. The Director reported that the last full Ofsted inspection, in 2019, concluded that the LA was good in all areas. A follow up Ofsted inspection in January 2022, focusing on the experiences of Care Leavers, praised Wiltshire for being proactive and ensuring that Young People were not limited by their past experiences. The Council was identified as having a passionate workforce and for its leaders being open to challenge. Support for asylum seeking children was also recognised as a particular strength. Overall, Care Leavers were found to receive the correct support at the right time as Wiltshire’s processes and self-assessments were the correct ones.

A further inspection was expected within the next year and, given that Wiltshire was rated as good at the last inspection, it was anticipated to last for approximately a week. During the inspection Wiltshire Council would share detailed reports allowing Ofsted to test a range of activities, as well as highlight an area that it felt was in need of further investigation.

During the most recent inspection in January two areas were identified that would benefit from further development; the recording of reflective practice and increasing the depth of audits carried out on the experiences of Young People leaving the service. The Director announced that actions were already in place to make progress in these areas, including reviewing the balance of recording feedback by adapting the audit schedule. In addition, a line-of-sight document was being used to allow managers to better monitor the level of recording taking place.

Ofsted were impressed by the Council’s seven key priorities identified during the January inspection. The Director explained that priorities included a focus on early intervention, increasing adoption placement options and working closely with fathers. He then went on to outline how some of the priorities were being met, reporting that the Dads Matter Too project was being launched to strengthen the support in that area. To allow the Committee to maintain an overview of the work being undertaken in all the priority areas, the Director suggested providing a briefing on each.

During the discussion key points included:

• Members thanked the Directors for the update and praised the work that had been undertaken. They also commended the passion of the staff in supporting Children Looked After in Wiltshire.

• The idea of receiving a briefing on each of the seven priorities was welcomed by Members. Directors also noted that, if time allowed, Rapid Scrutiny could be undertaken on the roadmap and line-of-sight documents to be prepared for Cabinet. Members stated that they would welcome details of the roadmap to help them decide which priority areas to focus on.

• Members discussed the importance of adopting a holistic approach to addressing children’s mental health needs. This suggestion was welcomed by Directors, who spoke about the benefits of continuing to review the CAHMS service to increase recruitment within the team.

• The Directors spoke about the importance of monitoring demand for mental health services and working with partners to ensure that effective community provision was in place. 

• The Grandmentor Volunteer Scheme was warmly praised by Members as a way of providing support to children by allowing them to speak to people who were not familiar with their backgrounds. The Directors noted that the scheme was being expanded to work outside of Care Leavers.

• In response to a question about auditing of feedback from Care Leavers, the Directors stated that a number of different types of audits were undertaken, such as compliance, but that going forward there would be a greater number of in-depth audits completed for that cohort.

Resolved

1. To hold a Rapid Scrutiny on the proposed road map (timeline) and aim to report back to the Children’s Select Committee at its June meeting.

2. At the June meeting to also receive the first in-depth update on the first key priorities.