Issue - meetings

a)     Presentation from Strategic Director, Children’s Services

b)     Discussion of Ofsted report by Committee members

Please note: the Ofsted report will be circulated following its publication on 20 March 2015.

Questions from Members and the responses to their questions are also attached.

The Chair led a debate relating to the recent Ofsted Report which was published on 20 March. He explained that a number of questions from Members had been submitted in advance in order that the responses could be received and considered before the meeting commenced. The Chair had formed the questions into groups of what he considered to be significant events in the Review of Children’s Social Work. There were nine significant events in total and these are attached at the back of the minutes. The Chair thanked the Chief Operating Officer. (C.O.O.) and officers for submitting their responses within a short timescale.

A concern was expressed about the timing of the meeting, given that the Ofsted Report was only published on Friday 20 March 2015. The Monitoring Officer responded to the concerns and stated that his advice had been that it was appropriate for the report to be considered at the meeting, as it was an external report from an outside agency, over which the council had no control.  In addition, it would not have been possible to call a meeting within the five clear day rule to consider the findings of the Ofsted Report, as this would have meant that the meeting would have fallen within the pre-election period. 

The Chair suggested that following the meeting, a report would be produced with recommendations for the City Mayor.

Event 1: Inception and Design of the Review

The C.O.O. explained that the review had been modelled around the Thorpe Report commissioned by the former Interim Director of Children’s Services (DCS)  with a plan for 18-20 cases per social workers. Members commented that with a reduction in staffing, some social workers workload increased to 20-25 cases which they said was unacceptable. The C.O.O. thought that the higher case-loads were because of vacancies and absence. Members questioned whether the review was misinformed. The C.O.O. responded that in his view, the review was not misinformed. Ofsted had endorsed the review’s direction of travel and the objectives behind it, but had been critical of its implementation.

There was lengthy discussion as to whether the requirement for budget savings was a factor in the review. Councillor Dempster, the previous Assistant City Mayor for Children, Young People and Schools commented that in her recollection, the review was about addressing the recommendations of the Munro Report rather than about making budgetary savings.  A query was raised as to why, if the review was not driven by the budget, were so many social workers dismissed as Munro recommended that social workers should be allocated no more than 18-20 cases. The design of the review was based on a case load of 18 – 20 per social worker. Members heard that some of the less experienced social workers had a lighter workload than that recommended by Munro, although the more experienced social workers could and some did have a higher case load.

The Chair invited Mrs Gaynor Garner, Unison Social Care Convenor, to the table to contribute to the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 95