Agenda item

Members to comment on and note the Sandwell Children’s Trust Annual Review

The Chief Executive of Sandwell Children’s Trust delivered a presentation to the Board emphasising the work of the Trust over the previous twelve months, the impact of the pandemic on the Trust and the work of the Trust going forward.

The full Ofsted inspection in 2017 on the Service had found it to be inadequate. There had since been multiple visits and inspections, most recently an assurance visit in early-March 2021 and a fostering regulatory inspection in July 2021. A full inspection was expected in late-2021/early-2022.

The key areas of focus over the previous twelve months had been the response to the pandemic. The issues and challenges dealt with by the Trust had mirrored those faced by Local Authorities nationally. A priority over this time was keeping children safe and there was a strong emphasis on seeing children face-to-face and ensuring their wellbeing. A very close partnership with the Local Authority was an important aspect of meeting the challenges as was building strong working relationships between senior colleagues.

It was reported that maintaining and recruiting staff continued to be a focus for the Trust. There had been a drive to communicate the ’12 Reasons’ to work in Sandwell. The pandemic had meant this had remained a challenge but there had been a small increase in permeant social workers and a decrease in agency staff. The Care Service had been impacted hardest with a range of measures taken to mitigate against this. Overall there had been stability of staff across the Trust throughout the year.

The key headlines stemming from current practice were that face-to-face visits had continued throughout the pandemic and were increasing incrementally, for a virtual visit to taken place a valid reason was required. It was noted that improvements were required in the quality of assessments. Short and long-term placements for looked after children continued to improve, with key issues identified as permanency planning and implementing pathway plans. The March Ofsted assurance visit concluded that no child was at risk of harm and the Trust had had a good response to the pandemic. There remained areas for improvement notably in child protection planning and intervention.

The response of the Trust to the pandemic had included continuous evaluation along with oversight externally by the Department for Education. Sandwell had been disproportionally affected during the pandemic, and the leadership team had managed to deal with emerging situations and enable business continuity across the Trust to continue.

Focusing on the future, Six Strategic Priorities had been developed as part of the Transformation Programme. The priorities were: People, Practice, Partnerships, Prevention, Meeting Need and Measuring Progress, and Striving for Excellence. These priorities would seek to strengthen staff recruitment and retention, strengthen services for vulnerable children and allow for permanency planning. They would also look to ensure interventions at the right point with an emphasis on Early Help and prevention, as well as allowing for the right plan for children to be developed ensuring quality of care and value for money. Overall the Trust felt that the priorities would allow for a culture of creativity, continuous learning and improvement.

Following comments and questions from members of the Board, the following responses were made, and issues highlighted:-

-        The emphasis on keeping children safe was vital.

-        The accusations of bullying within the Trust had been dealt with. Many in the Trust did not recognise the allegations however where staff have expressed concerns the right course of action had been taken. No allegation had been ignored and there was confidence that any concern would be addressed in the fairest and most consistent way.

-        It had been agreed that 25 Afghan families would be relocated within Sandwell (with the possibility of more) – Sandwell’s Transition, Education and Partnership Service (commonly known as STEPS) would be supporting these families and any children would be supported in their education.

-        Sandwell Young Carers continued to be supported. There was a risk that they could become isolated through caring for their families. Support had been allocated to them from the Voluntary and Community Sector. Work continued with schools to identify those who were young carers, but it was recognised that many young people did not want to be identified as such and it was important that they were not forced to.

-        Some complaints had been received about staff, however this was to be expected due to the nature of the work and was not concerning.

-        Wellbeing had been an increased focus with wellbeing days and staff surveys being distributed allowing for challenges and best practice identified.

-        Ofsted may conduct a full inspection towards the end of this year or the start of next year. The Trust hoped to see an improvement on the 2017 inspection; it was hoped the good work that had taken place since that time would be recognised.

-        The current issues around Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) Transport were not expected to have a detrimental effect on any Ofsted inspection or rating.

-        If there were to be an SEND specific visit Ofsted were aware of the current issues surrounding SEND Transport.

-        There was a close relationship with the Youth Offender Rehabilitation Services.

-        There was expected to be an increase in referrals across the service with an increase in Education and Health Care Plans (EHCPs) and Early Help assessments.

-        The partnership between the Trust and the Local Authority was something that improved outcomes and would be a focus going forward.