10 November 2013

National Independent LSCB chairs conference

Jacky Tiotto

Deputy Director , Social Care

Ofsted

Overview

New single inspection

The review of LSCBs

Discussion

Inspection improves lives and life chances The bar has been ‘raised’ – how well and what

difference are now central to inspections ‘Good’ is the minimum ALL children deserve –

anything less requires improvement Too many authorities are less than good ‘Adequacy’ is a vulnerable position given

the pressures on local authorities We ALL need to be more ambitious for children in

all settings

overview messages

Are we raising the bar?- Yes - BY looking at the experiences of children

and the effectiveness of professional practice, the bar is raised

- The Munro review posed this as a central observation to us all about the past decade – stop looking at targets and look at what happens to the children

- Judging performance in this country against others on the number of child deaths is simply not ambitious for children

- We have a responsibility to judge the system that protects children with a benchmark higher than whether they live to survive the abuse and neglect that they live with

some hard questions…………..

• The ‘single word’ judgement- A single word or a paragraph? What matters is

whether the services we are inspecting are good enough for children and young people

- We have a responsibility to tell a clear and simple story about whether things are improving or getting worse in the places we inspect using this framework

- The report contains the full explanatory narrative

• Is this a distracting debate from that which matters – what is our ambition for children who do not choose their life circumstance but who live with it forever

some hard questions…………..

some of the spotlight is on…….

Children and young people missing from care, education and risks of sexual exploitation

The promotion of education and schooling for children who are looked after

Children living in residential care out of the area

The early help offer and assessment Whether assessments are events or an

engagement with families The quality of work with families where the plan is

for children to return home The quality of care planning for children looked

after The quality of housing and support for care

leavers

new single inspection of local authorities

Universal, unannounced and 3 year cycle - balanced

3 key judgements - (2 graded judgements – adoption and care leavers)

Protecting children Looked after children and Achieving Permanence Leadership, Management and Governance

‘Good’ is the new lens

Outstanding – exceeding good, sustaining improvement, an exceptional difference

Requires Improvement – not enough characteristics of ‘good’

Inadequate – widespread or serious concern – children at risk or being harmed

the new framework – overview

overall inadequacy – when?

inadequacy in any key judgement limits overall effectiveness to inadequate

it is possible to have good ‘leadership’ in inadequate places

the graded sub-judgements influence but do not ‘limit alone’

widespread OR serious concerns – children at risk of or being harmed

protection AND/OR CARE

the breadth

1. Contact

2. Early help

3. Referral

4. Assessment

5. Child protection enquiry

6. Children in need

7. Children subject of a child protection plan

8. Children looked after

9. Young people leaving care

10. Children adopted Potential and approved adopters

methodology

Unannounced - over a single month

Set up (and contact, referral, assessment inspection evidence), local authority case auditing, full team for 8 working days

Tracking, sampling and audit (minimum of 80 cases)

Children living in children’s homes out of the area

Adoption and fostering – carers and prospective adopters too

Observations of practice, effectiveness, management oversight

Meeting with children, young people and families and carers

Talking to key stakeholders – no focus groups

annex A – what is already known

Sets out the information that is needed to support the inspection – the case sample AND performance information

Important data and management information to inform priorities and the delivery of protection and care to children and young people in the area

Information should be provided in the format used locally – GIVE US WHAT IS ALREADY USED TO MANAGE and LEAD THE SERVICE

Are there questions in there that should not be known and regularly reviewed?

improvement and next steps meeting

Inspectors agree provisional judgements on Tuesday afternoon (Wk 4)

Meet with the DCS, LSCB chair and key others (4) on Wednesday morning to:

share the detail of the evidence that the team used to reach judgements

take the opportunity to clarify any outstanding issues

have a clear dialogue about the areas for improvement that are likely to follow the inspection.

Followed by formal feedback, with statutory partners, Lead Member, Leader and Chief Executive

the report (1)

Key threshold / decision-making points (including any emerging themes relating to specific age groups of children and young people e.g. very young children or primary aged children)

Missing from home, care or education

At risk of sexual exploitation

Living out of the authority area 

Achieving the right permanence option

Waiting for adoption

In need of adoption support services

the report (2) Shorter, bulleted report

Summarised key findings written for children and young people as well as the authority

Areas for priority improvement and areas for development

Key findings for each judgement area

Draft within 15 days of inspection

Draft LSCB report sent to chair and partners

Inspection and review reports published as one document following factual accuracy

Copies to HMIC, HMI Probation, CQC, HMI Prisons, with letter from HMCI where there are concerns about particular professional practice

Add presentation title to master slide | 16

Inspecting the contribution of partners to care and protection

From April 2015 - with our partner inspectorates (CQC, HMIP, HMIC and HMI Prisons), a framework that ADDITIONALLY evaluates the contribution of core statutory partners to the care and protection of children

This will not replace the single inspection

We (together with colleague inspectorates) will select a sample of authorities to visit. The existing Ofsted framework will be the spine of that inspection with additional criteria to assess the contribution of partners

review of the local safeguarding children board

review of the local safeguarding children board

S15 (A) Children Act 2004 – regulations laid – new power for HMCI

In parallel with the inspection of the local authority and there will be an overall effectiveness judgement

The single inspection and review can be undertaken independently of each other

Introduced to identify the strategic and professional commitment and contribution of all statutory partners to help (particularly early), care and protection

consultation responses

Review is the right thing to do - though would be better if integral to a multi – inspectorate approach

Preference for no judgement – given complexity of system

Some challenge about the potential/scope for the judgement of board effectiveness to be different to that of the local authority

Some views that the programme should complete in less than three years and that the inspection reports should not be published together

Clarity sought regarding the non – operational role of the board

Concern about the high bar and the capacity of the board – particularly human resource to audit and evaluate effectiveness

accountabilities – are they clear?

Evaluate and Ensure – is there a difference? What are the levers?

The 2006 regulations describe the role of the board as ‘monitoring and evaluating the effectiveness of the contribution of…. ‘

The 2004 Act describes the role of the board as ‘ensuring the effectiveness of what is done…..

Are these tasks different and do they require different authority and have different outcomes?

We will undertake the review expecting that the role of the board is evaluative and not operational – except that of course everyone represented has an operational and statutory duty to protect

A question however remains for us – who really takes action if a statutory partner is not complying with their statutory duty to protect children in the area?

inspection activity

Review:

Minutes of at least the last three Board meetings

Sub-group minutes as appropriate

Evaluation of multi-agency safeguarding training

The policies and procedures produced in accordance with the LSCB’s statutory functions

The LSCB business plan

The LSCB annual report

AND:

Interview the LSCB chair, business manager and other board partners

for evaluation by inspectors

Recent case file audits undertaken by the Board

Learning, practice improvement and impact of any serious case reviews

Monitoring and evaluation of areas for improvement

Impact and effectiveness of the child death overview panel

Understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of multi-agency protection and care practice

Threshold criteria, training strategy, recruitment and supervision, investigation of allegations, safety and welfare of children who are privately fostered

Protection and care of children going missing, those living out of the area

what does good look like?

The LSCB co-ordinates the statutory work of partners to help (including early), care and protect

There are mechanisms to evaluate the effectiveness of those arrangements AND priorities for improvement are identified and being implemented.

The multi – agency training programme is in place, regularly evaluated for impact on management and front- line practice

Thresholds are clear, understood and properly implemented

Audits of casework identify practice and management areas for improvement - chair intervenes if no improvement

what does good look like?

Learning from serious case reviews, management reviews and child deaths improves practice and management and therefore children’s experiences of help, care and protection

Serious case reviews are initiated as required in statutory guidance and they published.

Partners hold each other to account for their contribution to the safety and protection of children and young people (including children and young people living in the area away from their home authority)

Safeguarding is a priority for all of the statutory Board members.

All Board partners make a proportionate financial and resource contribution

what does good look like?

The experiences of children and young people are used as a measure of improvement

The needs of children who are missing or at risk of or are being sexually exploited are a strategic priority for board members

Members of the board draw on their assessment of multi- agency practice to influence the planning and delivery of services for children in all partner organisations

The LSCB, through its annual report, provides a rigorous and transparent assessment of the performance and effectiveness of local services – including areas for improvement

inadequacy

Improper discharge of statutory responsibilities

Not identifying the experiences of or quality of practice for children and young people in need of help, care and protection

Failing to identify where improvement is needed

before the 17 November ……….

We need all LSCB chairs email addresses

They must be secure addresses

Please send by 17 November to:

socialcare@ofsted.gov.uk

Thank you