Setting

Jeanette Richards Executive Director of Children’s Services Bury Council 3 Knowsley Place Duke Street Bury BL9 0EL

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Monitoring visit to Bury children’s services

This letter summarises the findings of the monitoring visit to Bury children’s services on 31 October and 1 November 2024. This was the sixth monitoring visit since the local authority was judged inadequate in November 2021. His Majesty’s Inspectors for this visit were Lisa Walsh and Rebecca Dubbins.

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Areas covered by the visit

Inspectors reviewed the progress made in the following areas of concern identified at the last inspection:

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Areas covered by the visit

◼ Step-up from, and step-down to, early help. ◼ Contacts, referrals and re-referrals. ◼ Strategy discussions and section 47 enquiries. ◼ Child in need assessments. ◼ The management of allegations of abuse against professionals who work with children. ◼ The emergency management of concerns for children outside normal office hours.

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Areas covered by the visit

This visit was carried out in line with the inspection of local authority children's services (ILACS) framework. A range of evidence was considered, including electronic records, performance management information, case file audits and other information provided by senior managers. In addition, inspectors spoke to social workers, managers and the local authority designated officer (LADO).

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Headline findings

Since the last inspection in November 2021 and the first monitoring visit in June 2022, which focused on the front door, the local authority has made more progress recently in ensuring that children are being helped and protected at the earliest opportunity. Ofsted

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Headline findings

Store Street Manchester M1 2WD T 0300 123 1231 Textphone 0161 618

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Headline findings

enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk www.gov.uk/ofsted Continued significant council investment has increased workforce capacity and management stability at all levels. A refreshed and dynamic approach to recruitment is attracting more social workers into Bury. The pace of improvement has stepped up since the appointment of a permanent director of social care and early help in May 2024, and this is bringing a renewed positivity across the workforce and supporting a clarity of vision and clearer expectations about practice standards. There is increased visibility of the senior leadership team, and social workers are now more involved in service planning.

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Headline findings

There is now consistent application of thresholds at the front door. The relocation of the multi-agency safeguarding hub (MASH) back into local authority offices is enabling stronger relationships with the initial response team (IRT), richer multi- agency information-sharing and a timelier response for children. A refreshed approach to performance management is supporting improvements in the quality and timeliness of assessments, visits, initial child protection conferences and supervision.

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Headline findings

There is more to do to ensure that the police consistently refer concerns relating to incidents of domestic abuse to the MASH in a timely way.

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Findings and evaluation of progress

Children who are referred to early help services or stepped down from the MASH have the right thresholds of need applied, which is supporting children to gain the right help at the right time. Early help and family help services are being strengthened to cover a wide range of services across the continuum of need. A step-up/step-down panel has been established to support the provision of services that are proportionate to the needs of children. Written step-down plans following an assessment do not always ensure that they include contingencies should risks to children increase, or if intervention is not considered successful. At present, families may not always be sure what would happen if circumstances for children do not improve.

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Findings and evaluation of progress

Urgent safeguarding concerns are consistently responded to without delay. The co- location of MASH and IRT is enabling stronger relationships, richer multi-agency information-sharing and a timelier response for children. When concerns about children are referred to the MASH, social workers make decisions about next steps in a timely way. The screening of contacts is effective and informed by proportionate multi-agency information-sharing. Consideration of history, alongside the presenting issues, helps social workers to determine a clear threshold for action. Consent is considered and is appropriately overridden where this is required.

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Findings and evaluation of progress

When children are deemed to be at risk of significant harm, the response is now swift and effective. Strategy discussions take place promptly. Multi-agency information-sharing contributes to appropriate decisions being made and clear plans of action. Child protection enquiries are detailed and address the child’s risks and needs. Children are seen without delay and their voices are evident on records to support decision-making about next steps. This results in effective decision-making for children. Management oversight consistently provides a clear rationale for future action and supports timely progression of contacts through the MASH.

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Findings and evaluation of progress

A small number of children are not referred to the MASH at the earliest opportunity by the police when there are concerns relating to domestic abuse. Once contacts are made to the MASH, the response to domestic abuse is timely and effective. Social workers are tenacious in their approach to gaining an understanding of the complexities and impact of risks arising from domestic abuse. This leads to clear analysis of risk to inform immediate and ongoing safety planning for children.

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Findings and evaluation of progress

There have been improvements in the timeliness and quality of children and family assessments since the last inspection. Assessments provide a clear sense of the child's experience. They consider presenting risks as well as strengths, including details of the family’s history and how it relates to current concerns. Assessments include the views of children, which are gained through the use of direct work. Social workers use information from partner agencies to support a clear analysis, leading to an appropriate plan for intervention. Management oversight is consistently present within the assessment process. This provides clear accountability and guidance to social workers.

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Findings and evaluation of progress

The timeliness of initial child protection conferences has improved. For a minority of children where there are delays, children are regularly seen, and ongoing safety planning is prioritised in recognition of their significant vulnerability. There is a refreshed approach to how safety plans are being developed and implemented. This is supporting clearer identification of risks to children and making it clearer to families what they need to reduce risk. There is still more to do to ensure that contingency planning is consistently evident in children’s safety plans.

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Findings and evaluation of progress

The emergency duty team provides an effective service out of hours. There is connectivity with daytime staff to ensure a joined-up response so that appropriate follow-up actions are taken. This ensures that children's needs are met.

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Findings and evaluation of progress

Allegations against professionals are swiftly and robustly managed. Recording systems are comprehensive, providing a clear understanding of why decisions are made. The LADO is determined in pursuing partners and employers for updates and succeeds in obtaining these. This is keeping children safer.

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Findings and evaluation of progress

The local authority self-evaluation demonstrates that leaders know themselves well. Senior managers have addressed a number of practice issues at the front door, which has supported practice improvements, and more children now receive the right help at the right time. The improvement plan appropriately continues to focus on getting the basics right and seeks to deliver sustainable and improved outcomes for children. Continued political support and ongoing financial investment are supporting improvements in practice.

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Findings and evaluation of progress

Performance management and quality assurance systems are better supporting leaders to have insight into the impact of practice. The use of intelligent analysis now means that data is being used more intuitively to support greater scrutiny and oversight of children’s experiences. Audits are completed to varying degrees of detail, and in some examples, managers are overly positive in their view of some practices. The moderation process provides some balance through a more accurate reflection of children’s experiences. Leaders recognise that there is more to do to support managers to become more objective in auditing. There has been investment in external training to support managers to further develop their oversight and challenge.

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Findings and evaluation of progress

Leaders have implemented appropriately focused recruitment and retention strategies to tackle the continued challenge of securing a stable and experienced workforce. There is an ongoing recruitment campaign, and although it is too early to see the impact of the latest campaign, social work capacity has been increased overall and this is supporting a reduction in caseload sizes for some social workers in IRT.

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Findings and evaluation of progress

The frequency of supervision has improved since the last inspection. Social workers report that they feel well supported by their line managers through both formal and informal supervision. Leaders are aware that there is more to do to consistently improve the quality of supervision, providing sufficient opportunities for reflection to improve practice.

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Findings and evaluation of progress

Social workers across MASH and IRT who inspectors spoke with were very positive about working for Bury. They are motivated, understand the improvement journey and are well informed about the progress made and what more there is to do to improve children’s experiences. They report that senior leaders are visible and that they have the support of their managers, who they rate highly.

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Findings and evaluation of progress

I am copying this letter to the Department for Education.

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