Setting

Catherine McEvoy-Carr Director of Children’s Services Civic Centre Barras Bridge Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 8PU

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Focused visit to Newcastle children’s services

This letter summarises the findings of the focused visit to Newcastle children’s services on 20 and 21 September 2023. His Majesty’s Inspectors for this visit were Louise Walker and Cath Heron.

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Focused visit to Newcastle children’s services

Inspectors looked at the local authority’s arrangements for the ‘front door’ and responses to children who may be in need of interventions.

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Focused visit to Newcastle children’s services

This visit was carried out in line with the inspection of local authority children’s services (ILACS) framework. Inspectors met with practitioners and managers on site. Inspectors reviewed children’s records in detail and appraised the quality and impact of audit activity and leadership.

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Headline findings

Children and families in Newcastle receive effective responses when referred to the social care front door. Children in need of help and protection receive a response that is timely and proportionate and improves their situation. The front door workforce is highly skilled and knowledgeable. Children’s lived experiences are well considered, leading to informed and effective interventions.

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Headline findings

There is an aspirational culture created by the senior leadership team and lead portfolio holder, who strive to be the best children’s service they can be. Constructive challenge across the safeguarding partnership is now evident, enabling the partnership to deliver on the agreed priorities that support children and families.

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Headline findings

Inspectors saw in the scope of this focused visit that practice has improved in recent months. Senior leaders have a strong grip where improvements are needed, and have plans in place to take these forward. Ofsted

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Headline findings

Store Street Manchester M1 2WD T 0300 123 1231 Textphone 0161 618 8524 enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk www.gov.uk/ofsted

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What needs to improve in this area of social work practice?

◼ Work with partners to improve their understanding of thresholds, consent and the quality of information shared in contacts.

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Main findings

There is a strong multi-agency early help offer in Newcastle that provides children and families with a wide range of support. This means that families receive the right level of intervention at the right time for them.

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Main findings

When concerns about children and families increase, there are effective processes in place to step children up to statutory social care services. When this happens, early help workers remain involved until it is clear that social work intervention needs to continue. This means that established and trusting working relationships for families are sustained.

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Main findings

The quality of contacts from partner agencies to the front door varies. Not all professionals understand or apply thresholds, and some share information with children’s services without parental consent. In some contacts information is missing, and it is not always clear why the professional is concerned and believes the child needs help. This results in valuable social work time at the front door being used to clarify information and seek consent. Parental consent is well understood by social workers in the front door service. Practitioners skilfully engage parents, demonstrating a good understanding of parents’ rights while being clear about the concerns for the child and what action needs to take place.

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Main findings

When concerns about children are received at the front door they are responded to by knowledgeable, skilled and experienced social workers. The screening of contacts at the front door is effective, resulting in children receiving responses which are timely, proportionate and appropriate. Risks as a result of accumulative harm are considered well.

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Main findings

The emergency duty team is responsive to concerns about children out of hours and at weekends. Where needed, emergency action is taken. The interface between the daytime service and emergency duty team workers is effective. Timely information- sharing between the two services means there is no delay in families receiving follow-up interventions when concerns are raised out of office hours.

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Main findings

Management oversight is evident on all contacts, which provides direction for workers and a rationale for decisions made. This means that workers are clear about actions to be taken. For anyone accessing the records in the future they will have a clear understanding of how and why decisions about them were made.

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Main findings

Daily triage meetings in the front door service enable strong multi-agency discussion which supports decision-making. The introduction of a RAG rating helps practitioners to prioritise the response to children’s needs and risks. Concerns relating to domestic abuse and long-term neglect are responded to appropriately and if needed escalate into child protection procedures.

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Main findings

Most children who are reported missing into the front door are responded to appropriately. Return home interviews are not always completed in a timely manner, which creates delays in understanding the child’s experience during the missing episode. However, there are plans in place to develop the service and address the shortfalls.

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Main findings

When child protection concerns are identified, multi-agency strategy meetings are convened swiftly. They are attended by statutory partners and other relevant professionals who share information that considers the presenting concerns in the context of family history and previous involvement. This leads to a clearer understanding of the impact on children and appropriate actions being taken to safeguard them.

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Main findings

When children are considered to be at risk of harm, child protection enquiries quickly progress and are completed in partnership with families and other professionals. While assessments are under way, interim safety plans are used to support the family and reduce risk to the child.

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Main findings

The quality of children’s assessments and plans undertaken in the front door service is improving. Most children are seen quickly by social workers who make effective observations, engage families and demonstrate professional curiosity and expertise. In records seen, children’s unique characteristics and cultures are considered when assessing needs and providing support to the family.

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Main findings

There is a clear commitment to working with families and their support networks. Social workers consistently identify and engage with wider family networks to build support and extend the safeguards for children from screening through to assessment work in the front door service.

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Main findings

Direct work is undertaken with children which enables conversations to take place about their current experiences and what they would want to be different. This informs assessment and planning work with parents and provides some very powerful messages and motivation for parents to effect change.

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Main findings

Children presenting as homeless receive an assessment of need and prompt support to find suitable accommodation. Reunification with family is routinely considered and facilitated when this is safe to do so. Children are offered information about their rights to become a child in care and their views taken in account to enable them to make informed decisions.

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Main findings

There are strong, clear systems in place for recording allegations against professionals who work with children. The designated officer is tenacious in compiling detailed chronologies, keeping clear records of actions needed to safeguard individual children and wider groups within organisations. The designated officer tracks the progress and outcome of investigations effectively.

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Main findings

The senior leadership team is outward-looking and takes the lead on learning from good practice regionally and nationally. Practice and services are developing as a result of this.

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Main findings

Professional partnerships are maturing at a strategic level as a result of a number of recent changes in key staff across statutory partner agencies. This, alongside changes in front line management posts in the front door, has provided workers with improved team morale and a renewed sense of purpose and direction.

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Main findings

There is a range of quality assurance activity undertaken across the front door service, including thematic dip sampling, case file auditing and direct observations of practice. This provides managers with a broad insight into the quality of screening and assessment work and assurance of decisions made for children. Managers at all levels across the service use supervision, performance data and audit activity effectively to scrutinise practice and inform improvements.

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Main findings

Workers talked about the benefits of audit activity. Some had been involved in recent case file discussions with auditors. They welcomed the feedback and spoke about the benefit of wider learning across all teams of the briefing notes that are shared with teams.

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Main findings

Workers described supportive line management arrangements with managers who are genuinely interested in their welfare and work-life balance and who provide clear direction in terms of practice. This results in a workforce that feels valued and invested in and this is supporting social work retention.

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Main findings

Workers and managers have access to a range of training and career development opportunities. Workers identify improvements in their practice and confidence in their role as a result of this learning. This means children have allocated social workers who are skilled and motivated in their work.

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Main findings

Ofsted will take the findings from this focused visit into account when planning the next inspection or visit.

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