Verbal update from the Portfolio Holder for Children, Young People, and Education on the Council’s Improvement Journey
Minutes:
Councillor Cheryl Barnard, Portfolio Holder for Children, Young People and Education updated the committee on the work being undertaken as part of the Children’s services improvement plan. She highlighted the following points:
a) Since the last update to the Committee there has not been a further monitoring visits by Ofsted, however preparatory work for the next one, which will focus on the Children in Care Service, is under way. The visit will take place in mid-April, and the report with comments will be available from mid-May. This visit will be one of the more challenging areas for the Council as there is a higher reliance on agency staff within this area, and caseloads are still high.
b) Improvement specialists are working with managers looking at funding from the DfE to increase staffing levels, and to make agency staff into permanent team members. Resources are being redistributed to address current need and work continues to address the rising cost of external residential care placements.
c) Children’s Services recently held its annual practice conference, designed by the workforce, and supported by the DfE. Content was delivered by a wide range of colleagues including frontline staff. Feedback has been positive with staff finding the content helpful.
During discussion the following questions were asked, and answers given:
d) Members asked how the Council is working to convert agency staff into permanent colleagues. Managers are in regular contact with agency staff to discuss converting their contracts into permanent colleagues. These are both informal and formal discussions which have been successful in a number of cases.
e) Members asked about the timelines and when the bulk of the transformation work would be complete leading to a more stable service with a Good or better Ofsted rating. Transformation work will continue throughout the services as an ongoing thread of work. There will always be changes within the service as it responds to changing pressures and challenges within the area. Following the completion of the monitoring visits Ofsted will likely complete a full inspection. The monitoring period is likely to continue until September 2025 so a full inspection would be anticipated after that point.
The Chair thanks the Portfolio Holder for Children, Young People and Education, the Corporate Director for People and the Director for Integrated Children’s Services for attending and for answering the questions put to her by the committee.
The Chair extended thanks and well wishes to the Corporate Director for People on the news that she would be moving on from her role with Nottingham City Council. He thanked her for her hard work through what had been a difficult time for Nottingham.
Resolved that in light of Catherine Underwood, Corporate Director for People leaving the Council, the Committee recommends that the Council considers the establishment of a Corporate Director for Children and Young People (as Statutory Director for Children’s Services), and a Corporate Director for Adults Social Care (as Statutory Director for Adult Social Services) given the large areas of responsibility and share of the budget