Safeguarding and looked after children

Safeguarding and looked after children

Survey of children’s social work practitioners

Results for Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council 2010 (Dud ’10)

(No. of responses = 31)

With comparison:

Local Authorities Overall 2010 (NAT ’10) (Base = 4146)

Date: May 2010

Ofsted social work practitioner survey 2010 | 2

This is the first annual survey of social work practitioners in every local authority in England.

The social work practitioner survey was conducted in tandem with a survey for third sector organisations. This report only shows the results from the social work practitioner survey; a separate report is available showing the third sector results.

These results will be used in the planning of inspections in the same way as other pre-inspection material, namely:

as part of preparation, as an aid to formulating hypotheses and to guide the scope of the inspection.

to help inform decision making about the scheduling of inspections.

Inspection judgements will not however be based on survey results, nor will we make comparisons between local authorities. As such, this report will only contain results for your local authority and the national results.

Survey background


How to use this report

This report has been designed to help you easily understand and interpret the results of the survey and is intended to provide an overview of your area results in the context of the wider survey findings.

It is divided into eight sections: Induction (if applicable); training, workload, line management, organisational learning, communications, equality and diversity and the running of the service.

Anonymised verbatim comments for your LA are also available in a separate report where you can read social work practitioner’s views on the strengths and areas for improvement associated with safeguarding and looked after children in your LA.

% positive scores are featured throughout this report. These refer to the combination of positive responses e.g. strongly agree & agree. Aggregated % positive scores may vary +/- 1 percentage point after rounding.

As with any survey of this nature, we would encourage you to share and discuss these results with social work practitioners in your LA.

A total of 4146 social work practitioners took part in the survey overall, including 31 in this local authority.

Percentages do not always sum to 100%, this is due to rounding and removal of not stated responses.


Survey methodology

All eligible social work practitioners (defined as professionally qualified social workers registered with the General Social Care Council who work directly with children and young people) were invited to take part.

Survey completion period ran from 22nd February - 2nd April 2010.

An appointed LA contact was responsible for distributing the survey internally to all eligible social work practitioners via email.

The survey was administered primarily online. The survey was hosted by Ipsos MORI and all completed surveys were received directly back to Ipsos MORI.

Survey branded emails and letter heads were provided to help LA’s to communicate the survey internally.

Inductions


% Agree

Dud’10

NAT’10

My workplace induction covered what I needed

to know in relation to safeguarding children

and young people

50 51

My induction prepared me for my specific role

50 47

Views on workplace induction For those in post for less than 3 years:

Base: 12 : asked to all those in their current post for less than 3 years N.B. Results should be treated with caution due to the low base size

8

8

42

42

25

25

25

25

Strongly agree AgreeNeither agree nor disagree DisagreeStrongly disagree Don't know/not applicable

About training


% Agree

Dud’10

NAT’10

My training and development needs are

identified through my formal appraisals

68 61

There is sufficient training offered by my

local authority55 66

Training received

Thinking about both in-house and external training when answering

19

23

48

32

13

13

16

23

3

10


Base: 31


% Agree

Dud’10

NAT’10

…is relevant to my role in safeguarding children

and young people87 81

…helps me to understand and meet the individual

needs of children and young people

71 78

…keeps me up to date with legislation and good practice requirements in relation to safeguarding

children and young people

65 71

Perceptions on the training provided

The training organised for me by my local authority....

19

16

16

68

55

48

19

19

10

6

13

3

3

3


Base: 31


% Agree

Dud’10

NAT’10

Social workers are actively encouraged to achieve post qualifying

awards

35 55

Post qualifying awards

10 26 32 19 13


Base: 31

Workload


% Agree

Dud’10

NAT’10

I feel I have sufficient time to work effectively

with the children and young people who are

on my workload

10 20

Workload

10 23 39 29


Base: 31


Views from those with insufficient time

Reasons why insufficient time to work effectively with the needs of the children and young people on your workload?

55

52

52

42

39

13

10

0

% Agree: multiple answers allowed

NAT’10

Due to time spent recording information

electronically55

Due to the volume of work I have to do 52

Due to the amount of paperwork involved 56

Due to an increase in demand 29

Due to a shortage of social workers 34

Due to the lack of support from managers 10

Other 7

Don’t know *

Base: 21 : asked to all those who felt they had insufficient time N.B. Results should be treated with caution due to the low base size


% Agree

Dud’10

NAT’10

There are sufficient numbers of suitably

qualified & experienced staff to meet the needs

of the children and young people on the team’s

workload

19 34

There is an effective caseload management system within the local

authority

32 25

Managing workload

6 13

32

19

39

39

10

23

19


Base: 31

Support received from line managers


% Agree

Dud’10

NAT’10

…manage risks arising in my

casework77 78

…access appropriate training

77 74

…manage my workload 65 61

Line manager support

My line manager gives me appropriate support to safeguard children and young people by helping me to…

32

29

32

45

48

32

13

13

16

6

3

13

3

6

6


Base: 31


% Agree

Dud’10

NAT’10

90 84

90 85

71 56

74 73

81 76

Line manager support cont.

39

35

35

32

32

52

55

35

42

48

3

6

10

13

10

3

3

13

10

6

3

6

3

3


I am able to raise concerns about the service

I am able to raise concerns about my workload

Concerns I have raised have been dealt with satisfactorily

I receive regular, dedicated time for supervision and

review of my performanceMy line manager

acknowledges and praises good performance

Base: 31


% Agree

Dud’10

NAT’10

26 37

32 41

39 50

52 49

Organisational learning

10

6

16

32

39

45

42

29

32

29

26

32

16

16

6

6

13

3


The local authority is open to new ideas of how ways of working can be improved

The local authority acknowledges and praises

examples of good performance

I feel informed of the relevant issues raised in

local serious case reviews and actions plans put in

placeWhen amendments are

made to policies and procedures, the LA ensure all staff are fully aware of

the implications

Base: 31

About communications within and across your service


% Agree

Dud’10

NAT’10

…among staff within the local authority

29 47

…between the local authority and other organisations who

contribute to safeguarding

42 40

Communications within and across the service

There is effective communication and information sharing….

3

10

26

32

29

19

29

26 13

13


Base: 31


% Agree

Dud’10

NAT’10

There are effective systems for recording

all information that has been shared

about children and young people

32 48

The electronic case recording system is

effective19 31

Views on the systems for recording and sharing information

6

3

26

16

19

19

29

32

19

26 3


Base: 31

About equality and diversity within your service


% Agree

Dud’10

NAT’10

45 56

26 45

32 49

Equality and diversity

3

3

3

42

23

29

16

32

39

23

35

23

13

6

6

3


Considering gender, race, and ethnicity, age, disability, faith and sexual orientation:

Base: 31

There is equality of opportunity for all staff with the local authority

The local authority provides or commissions

services for looked after children that meet the

diverse needs of children and young people

The local authority provides or commissions safeguarding services

that meet the diverse needs of children and

young people

About the running of the service


% Agree

Dud’10

NAT’10

45 48

45 45

26 36

Views on the running of the service

10

10

35

35

26

39

39

35

6

3

32

6

10

6

3

3


Base: 31

Senior managers govern services for

safeguarding children effectively

Senior managers govern services for looked after

children effectively

There are opportunities for me to have my say

about the running of the service

Safeguarding and looked after children

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