Warwickshire local authority children’s services

Inspection of Warwickshire local authority children’s services

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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 Requires improvement to be good

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Judgement Grade

The experiences and progress of care leavers Good

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Judgement Grade

Overall effectiveness Requires improvement to be good

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Judgement Grade

Warwickshire was selected as one of the Department for Education’s wave 2 pathfinder local authorities, testing the government’s proposals for reforms.

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Judgement Grade

While recognising the local authority’s ambitions for the pathfinder to enhance services for the future, current frontline help, protection and care for children are not consistent. Weaknesses in oversight, supervision and decision-making are limiting the impact of frontline practice in important parts of the service. Some of the areas of improvement which were identified at the last inspection have not been fully addressed. While children and young people are generally well supported, some children experience delays in their needs being assessed, and for a small number of children, the initial response is not sufficiently robust to reduce risk or prevent additional harm. Leaders have made fairly regular use of unlawful unregistered provision for some children in care.

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Judgement Grade

There are also strengths. Since the last inspection in 2021, the local authority has improved the response to disabled children and to those children who are experiencing extra-familial harm, and specialist teams have been developed to support children to remain living within their families or to be reunited with them. Inspection of Warwickshire local authority children’s services 2 to 6 June 2025 Support for care-experienced young people remains a strength. They are listened to and supported to make a meaningful contribution to shaping services.

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Judgement Grade

A significant programme of change has been underway over the last year as leaders have implemented the pathfinder, including the creation of a new ‘front door’ called Family Connect, a new Family Help service which provides targeted early help, support for children in need and on child protection plans, and new Multi-Agency Child Protection Teams (MACPT) who are responsible for all child protection decision- making for children in Warwickshire.

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What needs to improve? 1

◼ The consistency of response to children at risk of harm, including the timeliness of strategy/multi-agency child protection discussions. (outcome 3, national framework)

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What needs to improve? 1

◼ The use of unregistered children’s homes and the oversight of children being cared for in unregistered children’s homes and other unapproved or unassessed care. (outcome 4, national framework)

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What needs to improve? 1

◼ The stability of care and timeliness of permanence decisions for some children in care. (outcome 4, national framework)

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What needs to improve? 1

◼ The consistency of supervision and oversight to promote consistently effective social work. (enabler 2, national framework)

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protection: requires improvement to be good

1. The response to need and risk is not consistent, and, for some children, it is ineffective. Where practice is stronger, proactive engagement from workers helps to ensure that children access the right level of services, children and families are actively involved in assessments, workers build relationships with parents and children that promote positive change, and managers’ oversight and support help to ensure effective planning and progress. In a minority of children’s cases, delays occur in workers completing their assessments and in child protection strategy discussions and case conferences taking place. The voice of the child is not always heard clearly enough. For a small number of children, poor decision- making and safety planning mean that initial protective actions are not sufficient to address the risk of harm.

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protection: requires improvement to be good

2. Within Family Connect, thresholds are appropriately applied when children and families are signposted to receive early support. Many children and families are

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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 Warwickshire local authority children’s services 2 to 6 June 2025 receiving early support at the right time from a wide range of services. Family Connect provides an opportunity for those who make contact with concerns about children’s needs and risks to benefit from a relational coaching conversation. This explores how they can support children themselves or be signposted to the most suitable services to meet the child’s needs. Initial triage within Family Connect is mostly appropriate, with consideration of each child in the family and previous interventions in reaching a decision on next steps. Practitioners work collaboratively with families when it is safe and appropriate; management

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protection: requires improvement to be good

3. Contact and referrals are triaged promptly in the multi-agency safeguarding hub (MASH) within Family Connect. Here, too, management oversight at key points of decision-making provides a clear rationale for decisions and targeted guidance for social workers to complete enquiries. Partner checks are requested and completed swiftly.

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protection: requires improvement to be good

4. Assessments of children’s needs do not always take place within a time frame that is right for them. When assessments are completed, they mostly provide a comprehensive analysis of family history, the current strengths, concerns and risks. Social workers are usually provided with clear direction about assessment expectations and timescales from managers. Most social workers are skilled in working in a relational way through focusing on families’ strengths.

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protection: requires improvement to be good

5. Social workers’ assessment of risk and clarity of management oversight support an effective response to domestic abuse within the MASH. Verbal safety plans are put in place by social workers in the MASH during an initial assessment prior to allocation for further work. This is supporting children’s immediate safety.

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protection: requires improvement to be good

6. The emergency duty team provides a well-organised and effective response to children and families outside office hours. There is good communication with daytime services. Social workers are skilled and child focused in providing emergency support for children.

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protection: requires improvement to be good

7. Where section 47 enquiries are required, these are mostly undertaken promptly. For some children, initial verbal safety plans are not shared with families in a way that makes clear to them what they are expected to do to safeguard their children.

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protection: requires improvement to be good

8. Workers use daily multi-agency meetings effectively in order to consider the response to children who are missing, and children at risk of extra-familial harm. Social workers and family practitioners in the family and adolescent team (FAST) develop a good understanding of risk and need through assessments which are comprehensive, and which involve children and their families. Direct work with children and support for families are resulting in reduction of risk for many children. Inspection of Warwickshire local authority children’s services 2 to 6 June 2025 9. Practitioners are beginning to use a neglect toolkit that was introduced in response to learning from serious incidents. Where it used, it is supporting social workers to understand the impact neglect has on children’s lives.

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protection: requires improvement to be good

10. Children and families benefit from effective targeted early support within the Family Help teams when this is identified as being able to best meet their needs. Skilled and knowledgeable family support workers provide comprehensive and effective support to children and families, making a tangible difference to their lives.

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protection: requires improvement to be good

11. There is some inconsistency in the effectiveness of practice with children in need. In many children’s cases, social workers and family support workers know their children well, there is early consideration of family network meetings, workers involve children and their families in meetings about them, and they include extended family members where appropriate. The child-in-need plans they develop are mostly clear with measurable targets. In some children’s cases, intervention is not informed by a sufficient understanding of children’s risks and needs, and contingency plans are not always clear enough to help families to understand what the next steps will be.

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protection: requires improvement to be good

12. Child-in-need planning for disabled children is supporting children’s experiences to improve. Plans provide families with clarity regarding next steps. Children benefit from well-coordinated and effective partnership working to respond to their complex needs. Plans which are outcome focused and mainly timebound are regularly reviewed.

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protection: requires improvement to be good

13. Child protection conferences are well attended by partners who contribute to agreed decisions and in supporting the plan. These meetings are effective forums for information-sharing, planning and decision-making for children and their families.

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protection: requires improvement to be good

14. Most children subject to child protection planning receive a responsive service from social workers who understand the child, their parents and the risks involved. Most planning is thorough, ensuring that families are aware of what needs to change for their children’s welfare to improve.

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protection: requires improvement to be good

15. Children who are subject to child-in-need and child protection plans are usually visited regularly and are seen at home and at school. Workers undertake sensitive direct work with children, gaining insights into children’s daily lives which inform the plans they make for them and their families.

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protection: requires improvement to be good

16. There is variability in the quality of decision-making and advance planning for children who have recently come into care. Some children who are subject to child protection planning have come into care in emergency situations, without the necessary interventions having taken place. Inspection of Warwickshire local authority children’s services 2 to 6 June 2025 17. Pre-proceedings work is reducing risk for most of the children involved, with many children stepping down from pre-proceedings and remaining living safely in their family’s care. Leaders carefully monitor the progress that children subject to pre-proceedings are making. This helps to reduce delays for children when care proceedings are issued.

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protection: requires improvement to be good

18. The multi-systemic team is making a positive difference to many children’s lives. Using a relational and trauma-informed approach, specialist workers provide intensive support to children and families. This supports some children to remain living with their families, or to return home from care when it is in their best interests, and in line with their wishes and feelings.

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protection: requires improvement to be good

19. There is usually a prompt response to homeless 16- and 17-year-olds. When children present as homeless, appropriate support is provided to see if children can stay within their family network, with support to prevent further breakdown. If they cannot remain in their family network, then children come into care and appropriate homes are sought for them. While advocacy is available, it is not always clear whether children are consistently supported to understand their rights and entitlements.

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protection: requires improvement to be good

20. The local authority designated officer (LADO) service is effective. Experienced professionals effectively identify and mitigate risks posed by professionals working with children and ensure that appropriate outcomes are achieved. LADOs also provide training which is raising awareness about their role across partner agencies.

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protection: requires improvement to be good

21. Children who are privately fostered are visited in line with their needs and, where appropriate, their expressed wishes. Annual reviews are held to assess the ongoing suitability of arrangements, although actions to secure children’s permanence are not consistently followed up.

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protection: requires improvement to be good

22. Warwickshire’s oversight for children who are electively home educated (EHE) is strong and is supporting children’s safety. There is an effective notification process for parents and carers who choose for children to become electively home educated. Lateral checks are always made with social care. The checks on children missing education are also appropriate. There are comprehensive systems in place, with a range of checks undertaken to try and locate missing children as quickly as possible and ensure their return to education.

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improvement to be good

23. Many children in care are making progress because of well-planned care and personalised support.

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improvement to be good

24. A small but significant number of children live in unregistered children’s homes. The providers commissioned by the local authority to provide these placements Inspection of Warwickshire local authority children’s services 2 to 6 June 2025 are doing so unlawfully, and the children involved are not benefiting from the safeguards of living in regulated provision. While there is some senior management scrutiny of these children’s circumstances, direct oversight of the care that individual children receive is not always sufficiently robust. Gaps in the recording of placement decisions have also been an issue in some of these children’s cases. This could affect children’s ability to understand, now or in the future, how important decisions about where they live while in the care of the local authority have been made.

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improvement to be good

25. A small number of children live in unapproved connected care. On occasion, these arrangements continue for years without their permanence being secured.

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improvement to be good

26. Most children’s plans are regularly reviewed and their progress supported through well-attended multi-agency meetings called All About Me. Unplanned moves, changes of social worker and gaps in management oversight have hindered some children’s progress towards achieving permanence. Independent reviewing officers (IROs) identify when children’s plans are drifting, although their intervention in escalating concerns is not always effective in addressing delays.

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improvement to be good

27. Social workers’ visits to children in care are mostly purposeful and at a frequency that meets their needs. In stronger examples, detailed and creative direct work supports children well to understand their experiences. Variability in the recording of visits can make it more difficult for social workers, managers and leaders to assess children’s progress and understand the quality of practice.

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improvement to be good

28. Social workers for disabled children advocate well for them to ensure that they and their families receive the services they need. Good early planning supports many children to transition successfully into adult services. Changes of social workers have affected engagement with some children’s families and planning for children’s next steps.

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improvement to be good

29. Family time for many children in care is carefully considered and planned. Relationships with families are nurtured. This enables children to understand their identity and to maintain important connections.

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improvement to be good

30. Most children in care have their physical, emotional and mental health needs well met. Specialist teams provide effective help to support children’s and carers’ mental and emotional health.

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improvement to be good

31. Virtual school leaders are ambitious for children in care, and most children make progress in their education. However, some secondary-aged pupils struggle to attend school regularly, and the support that they receive is not consistently effective in helping them to establish positive school attendance habits or to acquire the depth of knowledge that they need. This hinders how prepared they are for the next stage of their education, training or employment. Inspection of Warwickshire local authority children’s services 2 to 6 June 2025 32. Children participate in sport and recreational activities, which helps them to develop new friendships and new skills as well as being fun.

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improvement to be good

33. Children are supported well to participate in the Children in Care Council and many other events and activities on offer to them, such as brothers’ and sisters’ days, young inspectors’ work, Christmas pantomimes and outings, and involvement in staff induction days. This enables children to influence service developments and practice.

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improvement to be good

34. There is some variability in children’s experiences of achieving stable and permanent care. Many children in care are well supported to achieve permanence, including through reunification with parents, through special guardianship orders and through matching to their long-term foster carers. Some children, however, have experienced repeated moves in where they live or delays before a suitable place for them to live is identified.

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improvement to be good

35. Most separated migrant children in care are sensitively matched to homes which meet their needs and are supported to follow their religious and cultural practices. Children attend school and college and are having their health needs appropriately met.

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improvement to be good

36. Assessments of foster carers are of good quality, and foster carers say that they feel welcomed by the local authority.

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improvement to be good

37. A gap in management operational oversight has affected the ongoing review of foster carers’ approval status, the timeliness of supervision for foster carers, how often children and the second carer are seen, and when foster carers’ core training is out of date. Leaders and managers have introduced systems to address shortfalls, and they are monitoring progress. However, effective oversight of the fostering service is not yet fully in place.

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improvement to be good

38. Leaders and managers have a clear operational overview of Adoption Central England, the regional adoption agency. Children are appropriately matched to their adopters. Where possible, children join families who have already previously adopted their brothers and sisters. Ongoing brother and sister and parental post- adoption contact is well considered. Beautifully created life-story work and sensitively written later life letters for children form an important part of their understanding of their life circumstances as they get older.

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The experiences and progress of care leavers: good

39. Most personal advisers (PAs) know their care-experienced young people well and provide consistent support to them. They are in touch with young people in accordance with their needs and wishes, and they increase visiting when extra support is needed. Many spoke highly of their PAs in making a difference to their lives. A minority of children are not introduced to their PAs early enough for a relationship to develop before they become adults. Inspection of Warwickshire local authority children’s services 2 to 6 June 2025 40. Most PAs know care-experienced young people’s histories. Visits and interactions are usually recorded well. PAs ensure that care-experienced young people’s views are represented in their pathway plans, which are completed collaboratively. PAs are proud of, and celebrate, young people’s achievements.

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The experiences and progress of care leavers: good

41. PAs help care-experienced young people to keep in touch with friends and families and support them to manage these relationships. Lifelong link workers help young people reconnect and maintain relationships into adulthood. Care- experienced young people who want to continue to receive support from their PA once they are 21 years old are offered this, and contact is maintained with many beyond the age of 25.

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The experiences and progress of care leavers: good

42. Many care-experienced young people engage in participation events and make a meaningful contribution to the design of services. They know who managers and senior leaders are, and feel their voice is heard. They value contributing to improving services.

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The experiences and progress of care leavers: good

43. Health needs are well met for care-experienced young people through a range of services, including well-used support for emotional well-being. PAs encourage young people during visits to make appointments to meet their health needs, and these contact details are helpfully included in pathway plans.

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The experiences and progress of care leavers: good

44. Care-experienced young people enjoy the activities arranged for them and opportunities to meet up. They said that they feel part of something, and are less lonely, although loneliness is still an issue for some.

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The experiences and progress of care leavers: good

45. Care-experienced young people have good awareness of the local offer, which is embedded in their pathway plans for easy access. The offer helps them to prepare for independence and become established in their adult lives.

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The experiences and progress of care leavers: good

46. Pathway plans are updated regularly and reflect changing need. A small number of plans are brief and lack ambition for the care-experienced young person. Some actions are not sufficiently specific to ensure progress.

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The experiences and progress of care leavers: good

47. Migrant care-experienced young people are well supported to have their needs met. PAs are tenacious in supporting them to secure their immigration status. There is impressive support for language skills, which helps them to integrate and make progress.

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The experiences and progress of care leavers: good

48. PAs understand the risks to young people and take proactive steps to address these, with increased support provided at times of crisis. Care-experienced young people at risk of offending are well supported by imaginative and creative direct work to divert them away from crime.

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The experiences and progress of care leavers: good

49. Many care-experienced young people do well in education, employment and training, helped by ambitious PAs and dedicated specialist support staff. Inspection of Warwickshire local authority children’s services 2 to 6 June 2025 Warwickshire has recognised ‘care leaver’ status as a protected characteristic. This is part of a whole-council approach to supporting care-experienced young people into apprenticeships and other employment opportunities.

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The experiences and progress of care leavers: good

50. PAs ensure that care-experienced young people have the documents they need in adulthood. Care-experienced young people understand how to access their records, but there are long delays in these being provided. Leaders are aware of this and are taking steps to address the problem.

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The experiences and progress of care leavers: good

51. Care-experienced young people are supported to develop independence skills, and they value the support they receive from the House. Most care-experienced young people are in suitable accommodation and are supported to maintain their tenancies or to remain with their foster carers in ‘staying put’ arrangements. Most care-experienced young people spoke positively about their experiences, although a very small number of care- experienced young parents said that they have not received the support they need.

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The experiences and progress of care leavers: good

52. When care-experienced young people are in custody, most are well supported by their PAs. This includes regular visits and support to keep in touch with their families. This is not consistent as some PAs do not understand their responsibilities to ensure prisons understand that young people are care- experienced, which can impact on plans for their release from custody.

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families: requires improvement to be good

53. In January 2024, senior leaders introduced a new Directorate for Children and Young People to take forward the developments associated with the children’s social care reforms as a pathfinder. This has resulted in a broader Family Help offer. Leaders have consulted and involved in these changes, and the authority’s Families First model is generally well understood. Although staff reported some initial teething issues, they felt that these have been responded to well.

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families: requires improvement to be good

54. The pathfinder programme has involved a change of role for a large proportion of the workforce within a short period of time. This has required detailed planning and oversight, and leaders have put in place a separate team to oversee the changes.

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families: requires improvement to be good

55. Continuing political and financial support for children’s services is reflected, for example, in the continuing development of frontline services and embracing ‘care leaver’ status as a protected characteristic.

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families: requires improvement to be good

56. Some aspects of leadership and oversight of social work practice have weakened since the last inspection in 2021, so that standards of practice and decision- making for children are not fully robust in some areas. While most children in need of help and protection are well supported, the initial response to risk of harm has not been decisive enough in a small number of children’s cases, and Inspection of Warwickshire local authority children’s services 2 to 6 June 2025 there has been some inconsistency in the timeliness and impact of multi-agency strategy discussions.

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families: requires improvement to be good

57. There is some senior management scrutiny of arrangements for children who are living in unregistered children’s homes. Frontline supervisor and IRO oversight and challenge to these arrangements are not always visible or impactful.

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families: requires improvement to be good

58. Oversight and decision-making for children living in unapproved placements with connected carers were identified at the last inspection as an area for improvement. This remains an issue for some children.

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families: requires improvement to be good

59. Individual children’s case records do not always capture the rationale for key decisions being made for them. In some children’s cases, it is difficult to see how decisions have been made for them to be cared for in alternative living arrangements, such as unregistered children’s homes or other unapproved or unassessed care. This could well make it difficult for children to tell now or in the future how important decisions about where they live have been made.

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families: requires improvement to be good

60. Senior leaders have been responsive to changes in demand. They have continued to strengthen services to meet the needs of children who are separated migrant children or former separated migrant children, as well as developing specialist teams that are supporting children to remain living at home or to have better experiences in care.

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families: requires improvement to be good

61. Leaders have identified improving placement provision for children in care as a key strategic priority for the council. They have set out a comprehensive strategy with the aim of achieving this in the medium term. They have made some progress, opening five new children’s homes in the last three years and securing agreement to purchase a new property with a view to opening a further children’s home in the coming months.

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families: requires improvement to be good

62. Partnership working was identified as a strength at the last inspection in 2021, and the continuing impact of this can be seen through the successful multi- agency working across early support, FAST and Family Help. The designated family judge and Cafcass both reflected on the quality of work within the Public Law Outline, which is making a tangible difference for some children. Leaders have identified that there is more to do to embed the understanding of neglect across the partnership.

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families: requires improvement to be good

63. The representation of the views of children in care and care-experienced young people through participation forums is extensive. This is a strength. The voice of children is sought and is shaping all parts of the service. Children and care- experienced young people feel listened to and that their ideas are valued, as they can see the results of their co-production. Inspection of Warwickshire local authority children’s services 2 to 6 June 2025 64. Staff are invested in the relational practice model. They report having access to a range of learning opportunities to continue to develop their practice. This is making a positive difference to practitioners’ work with children and families.

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families: requires improvement to be good

65. While workers value the support and guidance they receive from managers, there is some variability in the frequency and quality of supervision across service areas. Most supervision records do not reflect the complexity of children’s situations or how managers provide guidance to support social work practice. Most actions identified are not specific or timebound, which does not support the progress of children’s plans.

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families: requires improvement to be good

66. Most social workers say that they enjoy working in Warwickshire, citing visible leaders and managers, and an open learning culture. Most workers have manageable workloads which allow them to spend meaningful time working directly with children. Inspection of Warwickshire local authority children’s services 2 to 6 June 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 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 looked-after children, safeguarding and child protection.

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families: requires improvement to be good

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families: requires improvement to be good

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