Setting

Jenny Turnross Corporate Director of Children’s and Young People’s Services Children and Young People’s Services Directorate Liverpool City Council 5th floor Cunard Building Water Street Liverpool L3 1AH

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Monitoring visit to Liverpool City Council children’s services

This letter summarises the findings of the monitoring visit to Liverpool City Council children’s services on 10 and 11 December 2024. This was the fourth monitoring visit since the local authority was judged inadequate in May 2023. His Majesty’s Inspectors for this visit were Kathryn Grindrod and Lisa Walsh.

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Monitoring visit to Liverpool City Council children’s services

Throughout this letter, care leavers are referred to as care-experienced young people because this is the preferred term in the local authority.

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Areas covered by the visit

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

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Areas covered by the visit

◼ General support to care-experienced young people, including health; education, employment and training (EET); accommodation; and pathway plans and planning.

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Areas covered by the visit

◼ Support to vulnerable care-experienced young people.

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Areas covered by the visit

◼ Participation and ability of care-experienced young people to influence service delivery.

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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 during the visit, including electronic records, performance management information, case file audits and other information provided by senior managers. Inspectors spoke to a range of staff, including social workers and managers, and also met with some young people. Ofsted

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Areas covered by the visit

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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Headline findings

Since the ILACS inspection in March 2023, there has been a renewed focus on the experiences of care-experienced young people. This has led to several recent improvements in the service delivered to them. The profile of care-experienced young people in the council and wider partnership has been significantly raised. There continues to be a stable leadership team that is clear about strengths and areas for further developments in practice. Strong corporate support, including substantial investment, has expanded the service, and a shift in culture among the workforce is leading to greater aspirations and support for young people. A revised and accessible offer for care-experienced young people is well understood by workers and young people alike.

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Headline findings

There are areas where practice needs to improve further. This includes planning for children leaving care, including the role of independent reviewing officers (IROs), and managers have to ensure that transition planning is robust for all children and young people. Written pathway plans do not accurately reflect the planning that happens for care-experienced young people, and there is more to do to ensure that these young people know how to access their health histories and social care records.

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Findings and evaluation of progress

The leaving care service has expanded its workforce capacity threefold over recent months, leading to a substantial increase in the number of personal advisers (PAs) and managers since the inspection in March 2023. All workers and managers in the service have permanent contracts. This has led to reduced PA caseloads, allowing them more time to build strong, enduring relationships with young people.

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Findings and evaluation of progress

At the time of the inspection in March 2023, PAs were not allocated to children before they left care. As PA caseloads continue to reduce, allocation is starting to happen sooner. This is a recent development, and many children have not had time to build a relationship with their PAs prior to them becoming their sole allocated worker.

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Findings and evaluation of progress

Transition planning still starts too late for some children, and the quality of work to help them to prepare for independence is variable. This means that some children do not feel ready for what is expected of them as adults. The young people who met with inspectors felt strongly about this.

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Findings and evaluation of progress

IROs do not review and evaluate the work to prepare children for independence early enough or with sufficient scrutiny. There has also been a lack of clarity about professional responsibilities between social workers and PAs as children approach 18 years of age. While work has been undertaken to address these issues, it was too soon to see the impact for children during this visit. Many care-experienced young people are in suitable accommodation where they feel safe and settled. They are supported to develop their skills in managing their own accommodation when they are ready to do so. Nevertheless, there are challenges in securing accommodation for some care-experienced young people with complex or challenging needs. As a result, a higher-than-average number of these young people live temporarily in unsuitable accommodation. PAs and managers are tenacious in ensuring that these arrangements are short in duration and that young people

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Findings and evaluation of progress

promptly secure appropriate accommodation. They also have regular oversight and contact with them to ensure care-experienced young people’s ongoing safety and well-being.

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Findings and evaluation of progress

PAs are ambitious for young people and creative in helping them to achieve their goals. PAs use links with local businesses to identify employment or apprenticeship opportunities, and the offer when young people go on to further education is strong.

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Findings and evaluation of progress

Too many young people are not in education, employment or training (NEET), sometimes due to their complex needs. A recently introduced EET panel ensures stronger oversight of young people who are NEET. When young people feel ready to accept support to progress with education, employment or training, their PAs quickly ensure that this is in place.

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Findings and evaluation of progress

Risks to young people are usually recognised and responded to appropriately. This includes risks to their health or risks from external factors, such as exploitation. This is factored into decision-making about where young people live and the support that they receive. Collaborative work with specialist services, such as drug and alcohol services, supports young people’s wide-ranging needs effectively.

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Findings and evaluation of progress

Young people’s health needs are prioritised through accessing both universal and specialist health services with support from their PAs. There are sometimes delays in accessing emotional and mental health support when young people do not have a diagnosis. However, PAs try to mitigate the impact of these delays by offering alternative support.

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Findings and evaluation of progress

Young people do not always know if they have received information about their health histories. The recent development to ensure young people have a copy of their health history on their social care record is a positive step.

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Findings and evaluation of progress

Most PAs have caring and supportive relationships with young people and they are proud of their achievements. PAs also support young people practically and emotionally through difficult times in their lives. The support offered by PAs is balanced with helping young people to develop their independence skills.

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Findings and evaluation of progress

Support for young people in custody is usually strong. They are visited regularly, offered financial support, and for most, there is proactive planning of support in preparation for their release. Young people who are parents also receive appropriate advice and help when they need it. The quality of written pathway plans is variable. Most pathway plans capture the views of young people, and broadly set out identified areas of ongoing support. However, written pathway plans often do not reflect the detailed extent of support, advice and guidance offered to young people. They are also not routinely updated to reflect the young person’s circumstances. This makes them less meaningful for young people and those supporting them.

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Findings and evaluation of progress

The local offer for care-experienced young people has been refreshed and expanded and now includes additional financial support to young people, such as free public transport around the city. Young people’s involvement in the review of the offer ensured that their priorities are appropriately reflected. The offer is discussed regularly with young people, and they know how to access it. However, some young people spoken to during the visit did not know how to access their social care records, which means that they may not fully understand their previous experiences. Senior leaders took urgent action during the visit to ensure that all care-experienced young people were reminded of the process to access their records.

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Findings and evaluation of progress

Young people are supported for as long as they need it after the age of 21. The support that these young people receive is proportionate to their needs and not limited by their age. Those young people over 21 who choose not to have ongoing support are written to regularly to remind them of support that is available.

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Findings and evaluation of progress

Former unaccompanied asylum-seeking children who are now care-experienced receive a high level of support. PAs have a clear understanding of the impact of early childhood experiences and trauma. Young people are supported to live close to other people from their community and with access to education. Careful consideration is given to ensuring young people can access local amenities to support their cultural and identity needs.

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Findings and evaluation of progress

Leaders have an accurate understanding about the quality of services that care- experienced young people receive. This includes areas that need further improvement. This awareness has been supported with substantial investment, including tripling the size of the workforce and the planned development of a care leavers’ hub. Care-experienced young people are considered and catered for in a newly developed housing strategy. The profile of care-experienced young people across the council has been significantly raised through well-attended events with key stakeholders, and this has been well received by the workforce and young people.

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Findings and evaluation of progress

The refreshed corporate parenting board is starting to have grip in challenging partners to deliver their responsibilities for young people. A care-experienced young people’s forum has been established and young people have been involved in coproducing new strategies, such as the children in care strategy. This means that some young people feel actively involved in developing services.

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Findings and evaluation of progress

The effectiveness and accuracy of auditing and quality assurance work continue to improve. This activity now usually prioritises the experiences of children, young people and families in determining the quality of practice. There are still some challenges in ensuring that individual children, whose cases are audited, consistently benefit from this quality assurance activity.

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Findings and evaluation of progress

The need to increase the number of PAs and managers was identified after the ILACS inspection in March 2023. Although PAs receive regular supervision now, it continues to be of inconsistent quality and impact. The need to further develop the skills of these new managers has been recognised appropriately by senior leaders and coaching and development work with managers is ongoing.

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Findings and evaluation of progress

The developments and changes that were needed in the service for care-experienced young people were significant and have taken time to develop and embed. There is a newly expanded and permanently staffed service, a new strategy, and ambitious plans to support young people to achieve their full potential and to feel safe and settled. The cultural change that has been enabled within the workforce is translating into a more aspirational service for young people.

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Findings and evaluation of progress

There are still some areas that need further development. This includes the quality of written plans and recording, and the quality and impact of supervision. There is also work to do to improve the quality of preparation for children leaving care. Leaders were aware of these issues prior to the visit taking place and there are appropriate plans in progress to address them.

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Findings and evaluation of progress

The workforce is passionate, committed and excited about the future. Staff care deeply about their young people and are ambitious for their futures.

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Findings and evaluation of progress

I am copying this letter to the Department for Education.

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