Setting

Ms Alison Michalska Director of Children, Family and Adult Services East Riding of Yorkshire Council County Hall Cross Street Beverley HU17 9BA

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arrangements within East Riding of Yorkshire 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 East Riding of Yorkshire Council which was conducted on 13 and 14 October 2010. 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 East Riding of Yorkshire 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 East Riding of Yorkshire 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 East Riding of Yorkshire Council children’s services

From the evidence gathered, the following features of the service were identified:

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Strengths

ƒ The children with disabilities team provides a high quality assessment service for children and families, based on well developed consultation with families and agencies. 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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Strengths

Safeguarding.lookedafterchildren@ofsted.gov.uk

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following areas:

ƒ The co-location of the local authority’s family support teams with staff from partner agencies assists joint assessment of children’s needs through well developed working relationships.

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following areas:

ƒ Assessments and Section 47 enquiries are carried out by suitably qualified and experienced social workers who are supervised by experienced managers.

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following areas:

ƒ During assessments children are routinely seen and their views are recorded and taken into account.

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following areas:

ƒ Staff have access to regular formal supervision and suitable training opportunities to develop their skills and knowledge. Training includes the lessons learned from serious case reviews.

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following areas:

ƒ Morale is high and staff report that they feel well supported by their managers. There is a low level of staff vacancies and most teams are stable with a low turnover.

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following areas:

ƒ Staff workloads are manageable. Newly qualified social workers have protected case loads and are receiving appropriate support.

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following areas:

ƒ The experiences of children, parents and members of the community are gathered and used to influence service delivery and development.

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following areas:

ƒ Out-of-hours duty arrangements are clear, robust and link well to the daytime service.

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following areas:

ƒ Social work practice is sensitive to the diverse cultural and ethnic needs of children and their families.

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Areas for development:

ƒ There is a lack of clarity and variable understanding regarding the thresholds for referral to social care by other agencies and use of the common assessment framework (CAF) is not well embedded.

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Areas for development:

ƒ In some cases information gathering at the referral stage continues over many days without being progressed to an assessment. This does not comply with national guidance.

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Areas for development:

ƒ Management of incoming contacts and referrals is inconsistent. In one office a significant number of unallocated referrals and assessments were found, some dating back over three months. Although these are screened initially to identify any immediate risks, they are not being regularly reviewed. Conversely, in two other teams decisions have been made to close off some contacts without assessment of the presenting needs, although no children were found to be at risk.

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Areas for development:

ƒ A significant proportion of assessments are not completed within statutory timescales. Managers do not routinely sign off assessments electronically and the reasons for case decisions are not always clearly recorded.

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Areas for development:

ƒ The quality of assessments and Section 47 enquiries is variable, with some good examples seen. However, some assessments lack clarity of analysis and comprehensive identification of risk. Senior managers recognise this inconsistency and are putting in place appropriate measures including assessment training and improvements to the Integrated Children’s System (ICS).

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Areas for development:

ƒ Some improvements have been made to the ICS recently, however the system is still slow and requires lengthy input from social workers which reduces the time they have to work with children and families.

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Areas for development:

ƒ Senior managers recognise the benefit of audits to drive up quality and consistency of case planning and assessments across the county, and have recently introduced a revised quality assurance system. This is yet to make a significant impact.

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Areas for development:

The 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: Nigel Pearson, Chief Executive, East Riding of Yorkshire Council Bron Sanders, Chair of East Riding Safeguarding Children Board Councillor Penny Peacock, Portfolio Holder for Children, Young People and Schools, East Riding of Yorkshire Council Andrew Spencer, Department for Education

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