Setting

Mr David Taylor Corporate Director - People Shropshire Council Shirehall Abbey Foregate Shrewsbury Shropshire SY2 6ND

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arrangements within Shropshire Council Children’s Services

This letter summarises the findings of the recent unannounced inspection of contact, referral and assessment arrangements within local authority children’s services in Shropshire Council which was conducted on 6 and 7 September 2011. The inspection was carried out under section 138 of the Education and Inspections Act 2006. It will contribute to the annual review of the performance of the authority’s children’s services, for which Ofsted will award a rating later in the year. I would like to thank all of the staff we met for their assistance in undertaking this inspection.

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arrangements within Shropshire Council Children’s Services

The inspection sampled the quality and effectiveness of contact, referral and assessment arrangements and their impact on minimising any child abuse and neglect. Inspectors considered a range of evidence, including: electronic case records; supervision files and notes; observation of social workers and senior practitioners undertaking referral and assessment duties; and other information provided by staff and managers. Inspectors also spoke to a range of staff including managers, social workers, other practitioners and administrative staff.

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arrangements within Shropshire Council Children’s Services

The inspection identified an area of strength and areas of practice that met requirements, with some areas for development.

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arrangements within Shropshire Council Children’s Services

The areas for development identified at the previous inspection of contact, referral and assessment arrangements in May 2010 have been appropriately addressed. The areas for improvement in relation to safeguarding from the safeguarding and looked after children inspection in February 2011 have been appropriately addressed. Freshford House Redcliffe Way Bristol BS1 6NL T 0300 1231231 enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk www.ofsted.gov.uk Direct T 03000 130570

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arrangements within Shropshire Council Children’s Services

Safeguarding.lookedafterchildren@ofsted.gov.uk From the evidence gathered, the following features of the service were identified:

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Strengths

ƒ Highly effective measures have been taken to recruit and retain staff which have led to most posts being filled by permanent staff. This has resulted in significant improvements in the timeliness of assessments, the manageability of social work caseloads and staff morale.

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following areas

ƒ Systems for receiving contacts and referrals within the initial assessment team are effective and contacts and referrals receive a prompt response.

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following areas

ƒ Thresholds for access to children’s services are clear and have been recently reviewed effectively, in partnership with other agencies.

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following areas

ƒ No cases are unallocated at the time of this inspection. All cases are promptly allocated to suitably experienced and qualified social workers.

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following areas

ƒ Child protection inquiries are promptly and appropriately undertaken, in partnership with other agencies.

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following areas

ƒ Most assessments are of at least a satisfactory standard, and some are of a good standard.

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following areas

ƒ The views of children and their carers are evident within assessments and taken into consideration in case planning.

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following areas

ƒ The diverse needs of children and their families are appropriately considered in assessments.

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following areas

ƒ Children are routinely seen during assessments and contacts are clearly recorded.

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following areas

ƒ Cases are routinely reviewed by managers and their decisions and directions are satisfactorily recorded.

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following areas

ƒ Staff receive regular supervision, which is appropriately recorded. Staff have ready access to managers, including senior managers, which is highly valued.

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following areas

ƒ Relevant training and development opportunities are available to staff. Newly qualified social workers are effectively supported and enabled to develop their skills and experience.

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following areas

ƒ Communication and links between the out of hours service and the contact, referral and assessment service are robust.

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Areas for development

ƒ Referrals to the children with disability services, other than those for children at risk of significant harm, are assessed within the common assessment framework with insufficiently clear prioritisation, risk assessment and management oversight.

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Areas for development

ƒ The service operates a combined electronic and hard copy case file system which is inefficient. This has been acknowledged by the council and plans have been developed to address this.

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Areas for development

ƒ Robust systems for case audits have been developed by managers within the service and by the Local Safeguarding Children Board. However routine case audits by service managers have not been undertaken since April 2011, as a result of the service reorganisation. This negatively impacts on managers’ ability to monitor the quality of service provision. The council plans to re-introduce these audits in the near future.

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Areas for development

Any areas for development identified above will be specifically considered in any future inspection of services to safeguard children within your area.

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Her Majesty’s Inspector

Copy: Kim Ryley, Chief Executive, Shropshire Council Andrew Spencer, Department for Education

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