|
|
13/01/09 : Council acts to keep children safe :
Reading's services to safeguard children have been rated as inadequate by Ofsted report in a Joint Area Review (JAR) just published, but OFSTED have acknowledged that Reading has been taking tough action to remedy the weaknesses identified. Work on teenage pregnancy is also judged inadequate.
The report does however also identify a number of strengths, including a clear vision for children and young people in Reading, effective partnership working, and a good recent track record of improvement in schools.
Reading's Labour Council has taken the inspectors' findings very seriously and is strongly committed to improving its services for vulnerable children and young people and to working with the Primary Care Trust to improve the effectiveness of its teenage pregnancy strategy.
In terms of safeguarding, the Council's key aims have been to ensure deep and sustained cultural change within the service putting the child at the centre of all services, to improve practice, to reduce caseloads for social workers, and to address the difficulties in attracting high quality staff.
Pete Ruhemann, Lead Councillor for Children's Services, says: "There have been serious issues in the operation of the Council's safeguarding function, but. as the report says:
"The council acknowledges the continuing seriousness of the safeguarding problems identified in this report and lead councillors and the new chief executive are providing strong leadership by driving through urgent measures to ensure rapid improvement within six months. A rescue plan sets out clear actions and identifies additional resources and timescales. Planned actions include commissioning an external audit of all child protection cases at six-monthly intervals, additional training and mentoring, extra officer support to improve systems and produce good-quality performance information, and the purchase of monthly clinical consultancy to ensure robust planning for children. Implementation will be overseen and monitored by a high-level task group, including the council's cabinet lead member and the chief executive."
"The immense amount of work put into rebuilding this service is now paying off with performance levels comparable to, and in some cases better than, our statistical neighbours. An external audit of Child Protection files has shown most are satisfactory or better, and not flagged any cases as being unsafe and needing action."
"There is never any room for complacency about child protection, but I do believe what has been put in place means that our children are safer than before, and that there is a much more solid basis for the future. However, the situation must be closely monitored to ensure the improvements are sustained."
Visit our News Archive
|
|
|
|
|
|
