Buckinghamshire Council local authority children’s services

Inspection of Buckinghamshire Council local authority children’s services

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Inspection dates: 27 January to 7 February 2025

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Lead inspector: Nick Bennison, His Majesty’s Inspector

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Judgement Grade

The impact of leaders on social work practice with children and families Requires improvement to be good

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Judgement Grade

The experiences and progress of children who need help and protection Requires improvement to be good

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Judgement Grade

The experiences and progress of children in care Good

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Judgement Grade

The experiences and progress of care leavers Requires improvement to be good

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Judgement Grade

Overall effectiveness Requires improvement to be good

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Judgement Grade

The last full inspection of children’s services in Buckinghamshire was in 2021 when all services were judged to require improvement to be good. Although some progress has been made since that inspection, including in assessments and private fostering, there remain areas of practice which still require more focused improvement, including for care leavers. More recent changes and increased capacity within the leadership team have brought new ideas and raised the pace of change. Leaders have provided an environment in which social workers have increased positivity and pride in their work and created a stronger child-centred culture. A transformation programme for services providing help and protection for children is showing promising signs of success. Workforce stability is improving. Most children in care are now receiving reliably good care and leaders have ambitious plans to enhance placement sufficiency. Unaccompanied asylum-seeking children receive sensitive and

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Judgement Grade

consistent support. Support for care leavers remains inconsistent, particularly for those aged over 21. Leaders are aware of the need to now prioritise the improvement of this service. Workers are well supported by their managers but do not consistently receive the reflective supervision they need.

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Judgement Grade

Leaders are supported by an accurate and honest self-evaluation and an evolving quality assurance process. They also rightly recognise the need to strengthen the Inspection of Buckingham County Council local authority children’s services 27 January to 7 February 2025 involvement of children and young people in corporate parenting and service development.

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What needs to improve? 1

◼ The quality and robustness of management oversight to promote consistently effective social work (National Framework enabler two). ◼ The quality and effectiveness of the service to children who are at risk from neglect (National Framework outcome three). ◼ The consistency and timeliness of work to engage a child’s wider family network (National Framework outcome two). ◼ The efficacity of transition planning for older children in care and disabled young people leaving care (National Framework outcome four). ◼ The quality and effectiveness of pathway plans for care leavers (National Framework outcome four). ◼ The quality of service and support to care leavers aged 21+ (National Framework outcome four). ◼ The engagement and participation of care-experienced children and young people in the corporate parenting board (National Framework enabler two).

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protection: requires improvement to be good

1. Children in need of early help support receive a timely, well-targeted service that is proportionate to their needs. There is suitable involvement of children and their families in their assessments and plans. When children’s needs change, there is an effective step up to or down from statutory children in need service provision, which ensures that children are receiving the right level of support.

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protection: requires improvement to be good

2. Contacts and referrals to the multi-agency safeguarding hub (MASH) are responded to in a timely way and at an appropriate level. Social workers balance effectively swift initial decision-making with obtaining enough information to ensure that the right level of intervention is considered. Parental consent, although routinely considered, is not always clearly recorded when gained or dispensed with. Domestic abuse caseworkers in MASH contribute to the overall assessment of risk when children are experiencing domestic abuse. This supports effective responses to domestic abuse. There is regular management oversight of work through the MASH. This ensures that work is timely and that responses are proportionate.

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protection: requires improvement to be good

1 The areas for improvement have been cross-referenced with the outcomes, enablers or principles in the Children’s Social Care: National Framework . This statutory guidance sets out the purpose, principles for practice and expected outcomes of children’s social care. Inspection of Buckingham County Council local authority children’s services 27 January to 7 February 2025 3. The response to children’s needs and risks out of hours is effective. There is a strong, multi-agency approach to ensuring that children’s immediate risks and needs are responded to. The interface between day and night services results in a well-planned response to children and families when they are in crisis.

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protection: requires improvement to be good

4. Children at risk of harm receive a swift response from the MASH. Multi-agency meetings are organised, with the appropriate professionals. They lead to a thorough discussion of risk and detailed action plans. For a small number of children already receiving social work intervention, there can be delays in the convening of these meetings due to partner unavailability. This leads to a delay in responding to unassessed risks. Most children receive thorough and timely Section 47 assessments. Social workers consider the experiences and voice of the child as well as the views of the agencies involved with the family. This leads to appropriate recommendations being made.

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protection: requires improvement to be good

5. Most children’s assessments by social workers give an understanding of the child’s world, their family history, and the views of the agencies supporting the child. This means that decisions at the outcome of assessments are well considered and responsive to the child’s needs or risks.

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protection: requires improvement to be good

6. Most children who are subject to longer-term child protection planning have clear plans in place to address risks and concerns. A smaller number of plans are variable and too adult-focused and do not centre sufficiently on the experiences and progress of children. This is particularly evident for some children experiencing neglect, whose plans and reviews are not robust enough.

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protection: requires improvement to be good

7. While family group conferences are used in some cases, workers do not always effectively identify and engage with the wider family network early enough.

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protection: requires improvement to be good

8. When children are experiencing increasing risk, most are escalated quickly into the pre-proceedings stage of the Public Law Outline (PLO) process. A small number of children have experienced some delay due to the threshold being inconsistently applied.

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protection: requires improvement to be good

9. The quality of management oversight is variable. When the child has experienced a significant incident, managers provide timely oversight, giving actions as to how the social worker should respond to that incident. Some workers, however, are less likely to receive regular reflective supervision which evaluates the impact of intervention. This also means that some workers are not consistently given guidance to progress children’s plans.

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protection: requires improvement to be good

10. Children who are at risk of family breakdown receive child-focused and purposeful work from the edge of care service. Most children receiving the service either remain at home or safely return home. Limitations in capacity mean that not all children who could benefit from this service are able to receive it.

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protection: requires improvement to be good

11. The local authority designated officer (LADO) service offers an effective response to referrals of allegations of harm from people who are working with children. Inspection of Buckingham County Council local authority children’s services 27 January to 7 February 2025 There is close partnership working with agencies that ensures a timely response to any incidents of potential harm.

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protection: requires improvement to be good

12. Disabled children in need of help and protection benefit from social workers who have a thorough understanding of their needs. Most children receive robust packages of care that support them and their families. Some children experience delays in accessing overnight short breaks or the appropriate educational placement. Social workers provide support to reduce the impact of this on children.

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protection: requires improvement to be good

13. Effective arrangements are in place to identify children missing full-time education. The local authority works positively with families and schools to address barriers to education. There is strong partnership working both inside and outside the local authority that ensures risks are quickly identified and acted on.

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protection: requires improvement to be good

14. Children who are electively home educated receive a service that is supportive of both children and parental decision-making. There are also robust multi-agency systems in place to identify and respond to risk to children.

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protection: requires improvement to be good

15. Children experiencing exploitation receive an effective multi-faceted service. There is robust tracking of children across agencies when children are assessed as at risk of exploitation. Multi-agency meetings are timely, disrupt exploiters and reduce the risk of harm to children. Parents are given support to strengthen their parenting skills through the exploitation hub.

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protection: requires improvement to be good

16. Children aged 16 and 17 who present as homeless, although a small number, receive a variable service. Children receive a coordinated response from both children and housing services, but are not routinely being offered advocacy or having their rights and choices explained. Some children have to wait too long to be provided with appropriate accommodation.

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protection: requires improvement to be good

17. Children who live in private fostering placements receive an effective service. Children are seen quickly, and social workers use assessments to make appropriate recommendations that are acted on effectively. Children are visited and their plans regularly reviewed, ensuring that the placement continues to meet the child’s needs.

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The experiences and progress of children in care: good

18. Most children come into care appropriately and at the right time to ensure their safety and well-being. Plans for permanence are mostly timely and made in the best interests of children. Decisions to return children to their home are appropriate. Children are well supported in maintaining family links. Most children live with their brothers and sisters. Family time is quickly organised and involves a range of family members. Children are also enabled to maintain relationships with friendship groups and significant adults. Social workers Inspection of Buckingham County Council local authority children’s services 27 January to 7 February 2025 understand the importance of maintaining this network of support for children in care.

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The experiences and progress of children in care: good

19. Most children experience stable and positive relationships with their social workers. Social workers, through direct work, gain a strong understanding of the child’s needs and wishes. This work is carefully reflected in children’s assessments and plans. Children’s identity and cultural needs are considered within assessments and plans. Plans promote aspirational outcomes for children.

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The experiences and progress of children in care: good

20. Children have social workers who visit them regularly. These visits are purposeful. Social workers, in order to establish positive relationships with children, take part in a full range of community activities with the child. Children who are placed for adoption, and some children in long-term care, receive high- quality life-story work. This helps them to understand their experiences and decisions that have been made for them.

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The experiences and progress of children in care: good

21. Children are involved in a range of participation groups from the We Do Care group to Young Ambassadors. These groups gain the voice of the child and children are involved in developing and shaping parts of their service.

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The experiences and progress of children in care: good

22. Children who are at risk of going missing and exploitation receive a strong service. There are robust tracking arrangements in place to ensure that return home interviews take place and, if not taken up, the reasons for this are reviewed. There is a consistent and tenacious approach to offering young people return home interviews. Young people accept most interviews. When risks escalate, multi-agency meetings take place and plans are undertaken that reduce risks and disrupt any exploitation activity.

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The experiences and progress of children in care: good

23. When children are living in unregistered children’s homes, these arrangements receive strong oversight at all levels of the organisation. In most cases, providers apply and are successful in registering as children’s homes. This process is strongly promoted and closely monitored by the local authority. Management oversight ensures that risk management plans are child-centred, and that progress is made quickly to place children in appropriate environments.

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The experiences and progress of children in care: good

24. Children’s health needs are identified and responded to quickly. There are regular and timely assessments of children’s physical health. Children are also linked to local doctors, opticians and dentists and are well supported in attending appointments. There is exceptional support for children’s mental health needs. Children in care living within the local authority benefit from a specialist child and adolescent mental health service (CAMHS) for looked-after children. This is an accessible and flexible service for children that is successful at involving children in timely interventions.

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The experiences and progress of children in care: good

25. Children in care attend school regularly. When children are unable to access education, then the virtual school identifies and arranges solutions. There is an ambition for children in care to achieve positive outcomes within education. They are well supported through comprehensive and detailed personal educational Inspection of Buckingham County Council local authority children’s services 27 January to 7 February 2025 plans (PEP). PEP reviews are regular and monitor children’s progress. The virtual school and education providers work well together to ensure that children are well supported and reach their potential.

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The experiences and progress of children in care: good

26. Children in care are encouraged to pursue their interests and hobbies. They experience a wide range of activities that help to raise their self-esteem and give a sense of achievement as well as fun.

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The experiences and progress of children in care: good

27. Most children in care live in safe and stable homes that meet their needs, although a significant number live outside of the county. There are ambitious sufficiency plans in place that are beginning to have an impact. The offer to foster carers has been significantly improved. This has seen an upturn in the number of foster carers recruited. There has been an increase in the authority’s residential capacity and there are concrete plans for a further significant increase.

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The experiences and progress of children in care: good

28. Foster carers benefit from effective support, supervision and training. Assessments of carers vary in quality and are not quality assured effectively. The communication between the fostering panel and the fostering service is underdeveloped. This limits the scope of improvements that can be made and the panel’s ability to operate within service expectations.

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The experiences and progress of children in care: good

29. When children live with their adoptive parents, they receive timely and effective support. There is a comprehensive package of support and training for adopters and children. There is a strong focus on early permanence, which enables children to develop secure attachments at an early stage.

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The experiences and progress of children in care: good

30. Unaccompanied asylum-seeking children are visited quickly by social workers after they arrive in the county. There are also timely moves for children to appropriate foster placements that meet their cultural and ethnic needs. Children are referred to solicitors so that their immigration can be confirmed. The local authority carefully tracks this to ensure that the child is well supported. Health assessments are timely, and children are proactively linked to local doctors, opticians and dentists. Social workers ensure that children participate in activities in their local community.

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improvement to be good

31. Most older children in care are not enabled to develop a meaningful and trusting relationship with their personal adviser (PA) before they reach 18. For most, the transition from social worker to PA is not well planned or well paced, with some children experiencing the allocation of their PA close to their 18th birthday.

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improvement to be good

32. Older children who are disabled do not experience a seamless transition between children and adult services. The meaningful engagement between children and adult services, for most older children, begins at 17+. This means that concrete transition planning starts too late. The impact of this is mitigated by older Inspection of Buckingham County Council local authority children’s services 27 January to 7 February 2025 children remaining with their current carers until longer-term arrangements are in place. For these children, there is uncertainty and a lack of clarity as to their future living and support arrangements.

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improvement to be good

33. Most pathway plans are written with young people and their voices are reflected in the document. The quality of the plans is variable, with some not providing sufficient detail about the young person or clear enough actions. Pathway plans for most young people are not updated when their circumstances change. This means the tasks and actions identified within the plan do not reflect the young person’s current circumstance. PAs, however, develop good relationships with most care leavers. They help ensure care leavers are placed in appropriate accommodation and can access their entitlements and support. Young people are regularly visited by their PAs, but the system of visiting is sometimes not fully responsive to the young person’s changing needs.

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improvement to be good

34. Young people are supported to ensure that their health needs are met. Most have access to their health information. They are supported in both registering and attending routine appointments with primary care services. Care leavers access a range of emotional well-being and mental health support. They are well supported in accessing either counselling or adult mental health services by their PA.

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improvement to be good

35. The local offer is clear about the young people’s statutory entitlements and the further discretionary support the local authority offers. Some young people are not able to access the information the offer provides as documents are not translated into their first language. Despite this, most PAs know the local offer and they support care leavers in understanding their entitlements.

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improvement to be good

36. Most young people live in suitable, safe accommodation that meets their needs. Care leavers living in supported accommodation have their support hours regularly reviewed with them, the setting and the commissioning team. This ensures that they are receiving the right level of support. When there is a risk of homelessness, PAs work quickly with the Homelessness Prevention Team to support young people and avoid homelessness.

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improvement to be good

37. Care leavers are well supported to ensure that they access education or employment. PAs are proactive in supporting care leavers to access employment, education and training. When barriers emerge, PAs will aid care leavers with both practical and emotional help. Equally, the virtual school offers strong support. High-quality and detailed PEPs show the local authority providing support beyond statutory requirements. There is a focus on supporting young people to gain at least qualifications in English and mathematics, but the aspirations held by the virtual school for this group are much higher and are leading to better educational outcomes for young people.

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improvement to be good

38. Young people who reach 21 are routinely transitioned to the 21+ team with a view that most no longer have a significant level of support need. Within this team, PAs place too much onus on young people being able to ask for help. Inspection of Buckingham County Council local authority children’s services 27 January to 7 February 2025 While a few care leavers continue to receive support from their allocated PA, for others insufficient consideration is given to their ongoing needs and vulnerabilities. When care leavers over 21 contact the duty service, PAs respond to the immediate need but do not take the opportunity to gain a holistic assessment of the young person’s current needs. This has meant some older care leavers have been left in difficult circumstances without the appropriate support.

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improvement to be good

39. Care leavers who are in custody are well supported. They receive regular visits from their PAs. Their pathway plans are updated regularly to ensure that plans are in place on release.

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improvement to be good

40. Young people who are parents have their risks and vulnerabilities responded to by the local authority. There is early health and social care support to help them in their new role. Equally, additional services are quickly identified to support them in parenting their child.

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improvement to be good

41. Most unaccompanied asylum-seeking young people are strongly supported by their social workers and PAs. They are placed in suitable accommodation with either family members or with young people with the same ethnic, cultural and religious background. They are well supported in addressing their immigration status and in establishing social links within their community. There is strong support from the virtual school, particularly in finding immediate and long-term solutions for these young people accessing English language courses.

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improvement to be good

42. Care leavers have the opportunity to join the We Do Care group. This group advises the local authority on its work with care-experienced young people. The group is justifiably proud of the impact it has had.

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families: requires improvement to be good

43. The political and corporate leaders in Buckinghamshire understand the areas of strength, development and challenge for children’s services. Through their knowledge base, performance data and a formal framework of scrutiny, they can support effectively and challenge senior officers within the service.

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families: requires improvement to be good

44. There is political and corporate support for children’s services. Protecting the vulnerable is a council priority and children’s services are viewed as being central to ensuring that this is met. Consequently, the service has received significant investment to enhance senior management capacity, aid service transformation and create greater sufficiency of in-county homes for children in care and care leavers.

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families: requires improvement to be good

45. The senior leadership team has developed and strengthened relationships with key partner agencies. This has progressed from a service that was isolated to a place where partners are better engaged and more active in supporting children’s services in meeting the range of vulnerable children’s needs. These Inspection of Buckingham County Council local authority children’s services 27 January to 7 February 2025 relationships also bring scrutiny to the service at all levels, informing leaders as to the quality of service that is being delivered to children. The local authority has engaged with external partners in the social care sector to gain a critical assessment of practice to develop and improve services.

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families: requires improvement to be good

46. The corporate parenting board is active in developing and challenging services for children and young people in the care of the local authority. It has a cross- party and appropriate officer attendance. The board has been too slow in ensuring the participation of care-experienced children and young people in its regular meetings. This is a missed opportunity for gaining their experience and insight.

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families: requires improvement to be good

47. The senior leadership team in children’s services, despite being newly formed, knows its service area well. The team’s self-evaluation gives an accurate assessment of the quality of service received by children and families in Buckinghamshire. The transformation programme is moving practice towards a more child-centred and relational approach, including streamlining the number of workers involved in supporting families. This transition has been well executed, involving partners, local authority leaders and the workforce in engaging and executing the change. It is early days, but the benefits in terms of service delivery are beginning to show. The local authority responded to increasing numbers of unaccompanied asylum-seeking children by creating a bespoke team, which is providing sensitive support to these children and young people. The development of the fostering offer has led to a growth in the number of in-house

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families: requires improvement to be good

foster carers. There are areas where the pace of change has been too slow. This is particularly seen in services for care leavers and the involvement of care- experienced children and young people in corporate parenting and service development.

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families: requires improvement to be good

48. There is an extensive range of performance information that is shared at all levels of children’s services. It is detailed and gives an account of progress being made around a range of appropriate key performance indicators. The local authority has created a new quality assurance framework to both provide an assessment of frontline practice and to support a culture of reflection within the organisation. The audit work undertaken is variable in quality. The involvement of parents, children and partner agencies is not embedded in the process and the learning for workers and the organisation is not routinely captured. Check and challenge meetings within the quality assurance framework, however, give an accurate assessment of frontline practice.

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families: requires improvement to be good

49. Management oversight and supervision are too variable. While managers are supportive and usually respond to immediate concerns, structured supervision is not always regular enough or sufficiently reflective. This means that, often, oversight is responding to an incident and does not enable the manager and worker to review plans for children and respond carefully to the more complex situations that children experience. Inspection of Buckingham County Council local authority children’s services 27 January to 7 February 2025 50. The We Do Care group and the Young Ambassador groups meet with political and service leaders. They are involved in social work and fostering recruitment and have developed questions for fostering and adoption panels. Their lack of regular involvement at the corporate parenting board is a missed opportunity to increase their influence.

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families: requires improvement to be good

51. There is a wide training offer for workers in Buckinghamshire. Workers are supported in qualifying as social workers through the apprenticeship and Grow Your Own scheme. Newly qualified social workers are well supported in developing their knowledge of frontline practice by the AYSE academy. Within the transformation programme, there is a range of training to support the move to stronger relational social work. The general training offer allows workers to learn about most key areas of their work. Workers are also well supported in their career progression in Buckinghamshire.

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families: requires improvement to be good

52. The workforce strategy is supporting the development of a more stable and permanent workforce in children’s services. Senior leaders understand the importance of reducing the impact of turnover of workers on children’s lives. There is an increasing number of permanent staff across the service. There is a focus on developing workers to become qualified, supporting them in their roles, and aiding agency workers into permanent positions.

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families: requires improvement to be good

53. Most workers are positive about working for children’s services in Buckinghamshire. Social workers, particularly in help and protection, have valued being consulted and involved in changes to their service. Within the care leavers’ service, there is less positivity and a sense of workers waiting to be supported in developing the service. Most workers have manageable workloads. There is regular oversight of the workload of workers across the service by senior leaders and plans in place to support the areas under pressure. Inspection of Buckingham County Council local authority children’s services 27 January to 7 February 2025 regulates and inspects to achieve excellence in the care of children and young people, and in education and skills for learners of all ages. It regulates and inspects childcare and children’s social care and inspects the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (Cafcass), schools, colleges, initial teacher

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families: requires improvement to be good

training, further education and skills, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It assesses council children’s services, and inspects services for children looked after, safeguarding and child protection. If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 1231, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk . You may reuse this information (not including logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence. To view this licence, visit www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence , write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk . This report is available at https://reports.ofsted.gov.uk/ . Interested in our work? You can subscribe to our monthly newsletter for more

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families: requires improvement to be good

information and updates: http://eepurl.com/iTrDn .

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families: requires improvement to be good

T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/ofsted

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