Setting

Mr Chris Hilliard Executive Director, Children’s Services, Schools and Families Bedford Borough Council Borough Hall Cauldwell Street Bedford MK42 9AP

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arrangements within Bedford Borough 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 Bedford Borough Council which was conducted on 6 and 7 July 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 Bedford Borough 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 Bedford Borough Council children’s services

The inspection identified areas of strength and satisfactory practice, with some areas for development.

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arrangements within Bedford Borough Council children’s services

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

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Strengths

ƒ Assessments and service delivery consistently and comprehensively take into account the cultural diversity of children and families and the needs of service users with disabilities.

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Strengths

ƒ Duty, referral and assessment staff demonstrate good morale and work effectively and flexibly together. Freshford House Redcliffe Way Bristol BS1 6NL T 0300 1231231 enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk www.ofsted.gov.uk Direct T 0117 9456333 Direct F 0117 9456554 Safeguarding.lookedafterchildren@ofsted.gov.uk ƒ Good quality intervention by the Emergency Duty Team ensures a consistent and co-ordinated response to meet the needs of vulnerable children and families.

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Strengths

ƒ Commitment of managers in consultation with staff to continue the improvement to the quality and efficiency of the service already made, as identified through audits and analysis of strengths and weaknesses.

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Satisfactory practice

ƒ Enquiries about the need to accept a referral or re-direct a contact are made by suitably qualified and experienced staff.

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Satisfactory practice

ƒ All referrals are allocated and managed promptly. There are no unallocated cases in the referral and assessment team and there has been none for a substantial period of time.

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Satisfactory practice

ƒ Initial and core assessments are completed in a timely manner.

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Satisfactory practice

ƒ The quality of core assessments is at least satisfactory in most cases and some are good.

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Satisfactory practice

ƒ Children are seen alone during assessments where appropriate and their views are taken into account.

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Satisfactory practice

ƒ Parents and carers are actively engaged in assessments with the aim of achieving appropriate outcomes for their children.

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Satisfactory practice

ƒ Strategy discussions and initial child protection conferences are timely and appropriately involve partner agencies.

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Satisfactory practice

ƒ All child protection investigations are allocated to qualified and experienced social workers.

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Satisfactory practice

ƒ Formal supervision of caseworkers occurs on a regular basis, and allows case discussion, reflective practice, and development opportunities. Training programmes are appropriate and accessible.

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Satisfactory practice

ƒ Performance management information is regularly gathered and together with periodic audits is used to inform service development.

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Areas for development

ƒ The electronic case management system is not sufficiently functional. This causes duplicate electronic and paper files to be kept. Consequently it is difficult for social workers to prepare important casework documents efficiently, for example case chronologies, and for their managers to monitor the quality of work. ƒ The quality of initial assessments is inconsistent, too many lack sufficient analysis or clarity about the outcomes sought .

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Areas for development

ƒ Reasons for the distinction between contacts that are closed or directed elsewhere and referrals that proceed further are not recorded routinely in a timely enough manner.

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Areas for development

ƒ Although complaints made by service users are investigated, records of children and families being advised of the right to complain are inconsistent.

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Areas for development

ƒ The purpose of the common assessment framework is not fully appreciated by all partner agencies, and results in some inappropriate referrals. Additionally some of these referrals lack sufficient detail and place further demands on the duty team.

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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: Philip Simpkins, Chief Executive, Bedford Borough Council Laura Eades, Chair of Bedfordshire Safeguarding Children Board Cllr David Sawyer, Lead Member for Children’s Services, Bedford Borough Council Andrew Spencer, Department for Education

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