Setting

Aviation House 125 Kingsway London WC2B 6SE T 08456 40 40 40 enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk www.ofsted.gov.uk Direct T 020-7421-6666 Direct F 020-7421-5646 sue.leaver@ofsted.gov.uk

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Mr Andrew Fraser Co- Director of Education, Children's Services and Leisure London Borough of Enfield Civic Centre Silver Street Enfield EN1 3XY

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children’s services

This letter contains the findings of the recent unannounced inspection of contact, referral and assessment arrangements within local authority children’s services in the London Borough of Enfield which was conducted on 21 and 22 July 2009. The inspection was carried out under section 138 of the Education and Inspections Act 2006. It will contribute to Ofsted’s annual review of the performance of the authority’s children’s services, for which Ofsted will award a rating later in the year.

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children’s services

The inspection identified no areas for priority action but some areas for development, which are detailed below.

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children’s services

The inspection sampled the quality and effectiveness of contact, referral and assessment arrangements and their impact on minimising the incidence of 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. I am grateful to you and your staff for your help and the time given during this inspection.

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children’s services

From the evidence gathered, the inspection identified a number of areas where the contact, referral and assessment arrangements were delivered satisfactorily in accordance with national guidance, in particular:

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children’s services

ƒ Processes for responding to contact and referral are clear and management decision-making is robust.

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children’s services

ƒ Child protection cases are responded to appropriately and in a timely way. ƒ There is good evidence that children are seen alone and their views are taken into consideration.

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children’s services

ƒ Families are appropriately involved in the assessment and care planning process, including satisfactory consideration of issues of ethnicity and culture.

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children’s services

ƒ The quality of initial assessments and core assessments seen are mainly good and the timeliness of assessments is satisfactory.

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children’s services

ƒ Arrangements for the provision of the out-of-hour’s social work service are clear and well integrated.

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children’s services

ƒ Assessment and child protection processes for disabled children are clear and effective.

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children’s services

From the evidence gathered, the following strengths and areas for development were also identified:

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Strengths

ƒ Good staff morale in the face of significant increasing demands for social work activity. Senior and middle managers have responded well to the increased workload pressures and provided additional front-line resources. ƒ Experienced team managers provide effective oversight of case work and good levels of support to staff. ƒ Regular attendance by managers at hospital psycho-social meetings ensures good information exchange and timely action on cases. ƒ Good partnership working between children’s services and the police child abuse investigation team results in timely action to reduce incidence of known or suspected harm to children. ƒ Arrangements for file audit and quality assurance are well established and drive forward improvements in practice. ƒ Management information is comprehensive and effectively used to monitor performance and provide information for senior officers and elected members. ƒ Supervision of staff is good and decision-making is recorded well on the child’s

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Strengths

electronic file. ƒ The risk management panel enables effective oversight by senior officers and members of challenging and complex cases.

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Areas for development

ƒ The capacity of the front-line assessment service has been significantly stretched by the high and rising rate of referrals and the associated increase in demand for social work services. ƒ The common assessment framework is not routinely used by all partner agencies, particularly schools.

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Areas for development

Heather Brown Divisional Manager, Social Care Safeguarding

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Areas for development

Copy: Rob Leak, Chief Executive, London Borough of Enfield Council Melanie Phillips, Interim Independent Chair of Enfield Safeguarding Children Board Glynis Vince, Lead Member for Education, Children’s Services and Youth, London Borough of Enfield Andrew Spencer, Department for Children, Schools and Families

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