Why this matters
Children and young people need to feel safe so that they can achieve their full potential. All partner organisations have a role in safeguarding children, with children’s social care leading on the protection of the most vulnerable children.
The last three years have been difficult, with an unprecedented increase in demand for children’s social care services and a resulting dip in some aspects of safeguarding performance. However, over the last year, we have achieved significant improvements in quality and timeliness of services, validated by:
- a successful unannounced inspection by Ofsted
- positive reviews from the Department for Education
- a successful Peer Challenge through Local Government Improvement and Development.
This has been achieved through the commitment of social care staff and partners, with substantial investment by the County Council. To sustain and build on this success, partners will continue to work together through the Children’s Trust and the Nottinghamshire Safeguarding Children Board (NSCB).
The 2011 Munro Review and the government response to this will impact on this work. We may adjust some of our planned actions in response. You can read or download the 2011 Munro Review at www.education.gov.uk.
What we will do
The NSCB’s annual report recommends that partners sustain and build on improvements delivered during 2010-11 and ensure that there is sufficient capacity in critical services. Its business plan identifies how it will: continue to coordinate partnership work to safeguard children; effectively deliver its scrutiny role; and improve links with groups and organisations with safeguarding responsibilities, including at district level.
A transformation programme for children’s social care is central to work to improve local arrangements for safeguarding children.
This programme is driven from within by people in the service, together with colleagues across the Children’s Trust. It will embed a new, resource-efficient model for children’s social care, creating a high quality service that inspires confidence and pride in the community, partners, County Council staff and political leaders. This new model will comprise:
- a single, multi-agency point of entry
- a return to locality teams
- a dedicated team to improve transition into permanent placements
- a dedicated approach to young people over 16
- better transitions for disabled children.
All of this work will be supported by a clearly defined an early intervention and prevention strategy [PDF ]
When we will do this
The target for completion of the transformation programme is March 2013. The programme plan includes interim stages and milestones.
How this will improve the lives of children, young people and families
The new children’s social care model will be increasingly effective in keeping children safe. It will include manageable workloads for staff and be financially sustainable, so that improvements are maintained. Key progress measures are:
- reduced re-referrals to children’s social care
- increased numbers of assessments for individual children carried out within acceptable timescales
- fewer children who have child protection plans that last for more than two years or who need to have a child protection plan more than once
- continuing improvement in the quality of our care, as recognised by our own self-assessments and by children’s services inspectors.
