There are “early signs of improvement” in Bradford’s Children’s Services since a Trust took over in April – but the “long history of inadequate practice” is still leaving a legacy.
These are the latest findings from Ofsted inspectors, who inspected work done by the Bradford Children and Families’ Trust during a visit last month.
The inspection was focused on child in need assessment and planning, and child protection practice, and was the second monitoring visit since Children’s Services transferred to the Trust in April.
The move was made due to Bradford Council’s failure to improve the service fast enough since it was judged inadequate by Ofsted in 2018.
The Trust is funded by Bradford Council, but run as an arm’s length organisation.
In a letter to the Council and Trust, Ofsted inspectors said services were improving, but the legacy of years of inadequate services was still being felt.
It said: “There are early signs of some improved practice in child in need and child protection work since the last inspection.
“A new practice model is being implemented but is not yet fully embedded.
“The long history of inadequate practice means there continue to be a very high number of children who are subject to statutory child in need and child protection plans, many unnecessarily so.
“This has also resulted in drift and delay for some children having their needs and risks identified and responded to in a timely way.
“The Trust has a detailed understanding of the issues that need improvement in this area of practice, which is enabling more targeted and recent improvement activity.
“There are a very high number of children subject to child in need and child protection plans.
“Historical and less effective assessment and planning has resulted in some children and families being subject to statutory child protection or child in need procedures when alternative and more proportionate plans could have been considered.
“The Trust is working with staff and partner agencies to redress this and ensure that where safe to do so, children are not subjected to unnecessary statutory processes. There has been very recent success with a small and safe reduction in the number of children on child protection plans.
“In most children’s cases seen during this visit, their needs are now being addressed at the appropriate level of intervention.
“However, inspectors did see the negative impact on children of previously poor practice and ineffective decision-making.
“Some children have been escalated prematurely to child protection processes and some children’s cases have closed too soon. This has resulted in children being subjected to multiple and unnecessary interventions.
“Social workers reported positively about working for Bradford.
“They articulated feeling more settled, and better supported with their work. Managers are described as visible and available when needed.
“Some workers were able to discuss the wider vision of the Trust and what they described as the need to ‘get back to basics’ and ‘do the simple things right’.”
Eileen Milner, Chair of the Bradford and Families Trust, said: “The outcome of this latest visit from Ofsted shows that we are making progress in the crucial areas of children in need and child protection.
“I want to thank all the staff who are working so hard to make these improvements. It is good to hear from inspectors that our social workers are positive about working for Bradford and feel more settled, and better supported with their work.
“Our managers have gone to great efforts with everyone in the Trust to make sure we are clear about our values when it comes to working with children and families. It is good to see this is recognised by Ofsted.
“It is an important aspect of our work that we will continue to develop so our staff can deliver the best services for children across the district.”
Councillor Sue Duffy, Bradford Council’s portfolio holder for children and families, added: “It is good to see that some services for children and families are improving.
“We know that there is still much more to do and inspectors have highlighted areas the Trust still needs to strengthen. Many of the new initiatives that it has put in place are in their early stages, but the improvement we have seen so far gives the Trust a positive platform on which to build.”
Councillor Jeanette Sunderland (Lib Dem, Idle and Thackley) sits on the Council’s Children’s Services Scrutiny Committee.
After the report was published she said: “Whilst there are signs of early improvements in some areas the impact of the legacy of poor practice and ineffective decision-making continues to impact on the lives of children.
“The early improvements are not consistent across the Trust or is leaning routinely taken from case histories.
“Worryingly inspectors found the analysis of need and risk does not always focus on the right things which undermines the effectiveness of plans for children.
“What overshadows all of the work being done by the Children and Families Trust is its unstable financial position.
“The legacy of poor financial management, the failure to recruit and retain experienced staff and the huge reliance on agency staff has resulted in a predicted overspend of over £45 million.
“It is incredible to think that the Council and the Government signed off a contract with such financial instability built into it.”
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