The Children’s Services Challenge

Julian Wooster

23 April 2015

• Oversight, scrutiny and challenge from corporate leaders has not been sufficiently robust. Chronic instability at all levels of the organisation, poor practice and a culture of mistrust have been allowed to persist.

• Partners are not fully committed or contributing effectively to the safety and protection of children and families. The partnership has failed to establish a shared understanding of the arrangements for early help and thresholds for children’s social care are set too high.

Next Steps

• Improvement Partner - Essex • June - Report to Minister on the ability of

Somerset to improve• Nine urgent priorities• Target to get to ‘Requiring Improvement’

in a year

The ‘nine’ priorities

• Strengthening strategic leadership• Improving social work capacity• Developing management capacity• Ensuring quality safeguarding across all agencies• Systematically identifying children most at risk across all

agencies• Assessing the safety of all children who go missing• Embedding Early Help• Increasing local care placements• More permanence for children in care

How can schools help?

• Early Help – 11th May Conference• Ensure your staff comply with Safeguarding

Procedures and Processes• Make sure your staff have appropriate training

and supervision.• Liaise with other agencies• Address school attendance issues