Agenda item

Purpose of the report:

To apprise the Committee of the Executive Director’s initial observations of the Directorate, following their first month in post.

Witnesses:

Rachael Wardell, Executive Director

Key points raised during the discussion:

1. The Chairman welcomed the new Executive Director to the Select Committee meeting and invited her to provide a summary of her findings after one month in post.

2. The Executive Director had a high level of confidence that the council’s children’s services had made significant improvement and were no longer ‘inadequate’, having completed the steps of the improvement plan from the previous Ofsted inspection (2018), and now implementing a “Getting to Good plan”. Feedback from the Service’s January 2021 mock inspection of the Children’s Single Point of Access (C-SPA) and the Early Help Hub assured the Executive Director of the rigour of the Service’s self-evaluation practices. The upcoming three-way peer review undertaken under the South East Sector Led Improvement Programme would provide a further opportunity for the Service to test its self-evaluation. The Executive Director acknowledged that there was still more work to be done to achieve a ‘good’ Ofsted rating, and was meeting with Ofsted and a senior inspections officer the following week to discuss Service readiness for the next unannounced Ofsted visit.

3. The Executive Director informed the Select Committee that a review undertaken jointly by the Department for Education (DfE) and NHS England confirmed that the Service had made good progress with its provision for children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) and, as a result could demonstrate clear and sustained progress and no longer needed to be subject to DfE scrutiny with six monthly meetings. The Executive Director and SEND Systems Partnership had reviewed progress at the last meeting in order to identify areas for continued focus.

4. The Directorate was operating well during the third Covid-19 lockdown despite continuing its improvement programme and receiving frequently changing expectations and guidance from DfE. The Executive Director was pleased to report that a reduced workforce (due to shielding, illness and self-isolation) was not preventing the Directorate from undertaking essential work, and face-to-face contacts were still being carried wherever possible. Covid-19 had delayed some of the Service’s improvement work, but progress had not stopped or been lost.

5. During their first month in post, the Executive Director had identified several priority areas for the Directorate: children’s social care improvement; children with additional needs and their families (SEND capital programme investment in specialist placements in the county); cultures and behaviours and inclusion practice in schools; and supporting children and young people with mental health and emotional wellbeing issues. At the end of 2020, the council agreed a new contract for emotional wellbeing and mental health services, which was now in the mobilisation phase – the Executive Director was the chair of the Assurance Board for the programme. The first meeting confirmed the scale of the task; however, the workstreams were well established and met weekly, recruitment was underway, and progress was being closely monitored. Closing the attainment gap, which was widening due to Covid-19 restrictions, was another Directorate priority. It was also important for the Directorate to focus on the council’s relationship and engagement with schools, and child poverty. The latter had implications for education and careers support, the council’s economic strategy and post-Covid-19 recovery.

6. A Member asked how the Service continued to safeguard children during lockdown when unannounced visits were not permitted. The Executive Director explained that visits were being planned differently whilst ensuring the safeguarding of children, foster carers and staff. Foster carers needed to engage in a significant process of assurance before taking a child into their care, thus the Service was confident that children’s safeguarding needs were being met in these placements. Nevertheless, face-to-face, announced visits with these children did continue and the Executive Director assured Members of the level of visibility of children during the pandemic.

7. A Member asked what was being done to curb the rise in the number of Special Guardianship Order (SGO) placement breakdowns. The Executive Director stated SGO placements usually provided good outcomes for children as they were generally used when a young person was already known to the accommodating family. The Service gave as much support to SGO placements as it did to adoptive placements and worked with families prior to the making of an order, to ensure the child would be well served there. It was desirable to support Special Guardian families in whatever way possible to avoid placement breakdown. 

8. A Member asked how the Executive Director perceived the growing independence of schools from Local Authority influence. The Executive Director responded that this policy direction for schools generally did not accord with the public’s expectations, as parents tended to prefer council oversight of school-related issues. The Executive Director stated that it was vital that the Local Authority maintained good relationships with schools because it had overall responsibility for education and wellbeing of children living in Surrey. During Covid-19, the Department for Education (DfE) placed greater expectations on Local Authorities’ engagement with schools and passed more guidance through the council. This strengthened the council’s working relationship with Surrey schools and highlighted the utility of Local Authorities as the middle tier between schools and the DfE.