CARE provided by Coventry City Council for vulnerable youngsters remains ‘inconsistent’ – after years of its children’s services being deemed as ‘requiring improvement’ and ‘inadequate’ by watchdog Ofsted.
Its latest report published late last month found areas of improvement but also stated there was much work to be done.
The council’s children’s services has been under the spotlight since it was placed in ‘special measures’ by Ofsted in 2014.
A string of critical inspections followed the tragic murder of four-year-old schoolboy Daniel Pelka, drawing national attention after child protection agencies missed chances to intervene.
In 2017, the services were taken out of special measures and were graded ‘requires improvement’ – where it remains.
Ofsted had for years been critical of the high number of children in council care in Coventry.
After February’s ‘focused visit’ – in which no grading takes place – Ofsted inspector John Roughton published his findings on March 21.
He said: “While there is a concerted focus on achieving permanence for children in care in Coventry, the quality of social work practice remains inconsistent.
“Too many children do not have an updated assessment to inform their care plan, and the Public Law Outline (PLO) is not used effectively at the pre-proceedings stage to assess and support children who may be at risk of harm.
“Delays in achieving permanence exist for some children on a placement order, and some permanence options, such as special guardianship, are not promoted enough.
“Children’s files do not always show how permanence decisions are made.
“The local authority does not have a system to track and prioritise matching for children placed in long-term fostering arrangements.
“The local authority understands itself well and has responded to the areas for improvement identified at the last inspection relating to permanence.
“However, the local authority recognises that although recent improvements have been made, more needs to be done.
“There is strong political support for children in care.
“Children live in placements that meet their needs.
“The development of performance information increasingly allows senior leaders to track the progress of most children towards achieving permanence, and the recent service design has reduced transitions and changes in social workers for children.”
John Gregg, Director of Children’s Services, said: “Of course there is lots to work on, but as an improving service we approached the visit very much with the view that it would help us to be challenged so that we can be sure we are heading in the right direction.
“I’m delighted with how staff have responded to that challenge and were proud to talk about their work.
“In their informal feedback to me I was really pleased to hear Ofsted acknowledge we ‘have some really talented quality staff who go the extra mile and have quality relationships with children’.”
