Title: Children’s Social Services In Swansea
Date: 3 March 2009
By: Gwenda Thomas, Deputy Minister for Social Services
I provided a statement in June 2007 on the findings and implications of the review of children’s social services in the City and County of Swansea that had been carried out in March and April of 2007 by the Care and Social Services Inspectorate. That review had found that there were serious concerns in core areas of service provision and, in view of these, the Chief Inspector decided to apply the Protocol for responding to Serious Concern about Local Authority Social Services in respect of the authority.
The protocol remains in place and, over the last 18 months, the Inspectorate has set improvement targets for the authority and monitored the extent to which progress was being made. The Assistant Chief Inspector has held meetings at regular intervals with the Chief Executive and other senior Directors to review the position and the Inspectorate has written numerous times on matters requiring attention and to confirm expectations of the improvements that needed to be made.
A further Inspection of children’s social services in Swansea was undertaken in December 2008. The Report will be published in April but its findings have been reported to me. In summary, whilst there has been some improvement, the overall judgement on children’s social services remains the same as that following the 2007 inspection. Its services remain inconsistent and the prospects for improvement remain uncertain.
I have met with the Leader of the authority and the social services portfolio holder on 3 occasions, since the 2007 inspection report and I have made clear my expectation that significant improvement in services was required and that 18 months should be sufficient for this to be achieved.
The findings of the recent inspection are disappointing. There have been some improvements. However, progress has been limited and patchy and, in the view of the CSIW, children are still not being well served.
The initial response made by the authority to the concerns raised by the CSIW as a consequence of the 2007 inspection was inadequate. Despite making progress subsequently in relation to workforce issues and recently in performance management, concerns about the authority’s approach to planning and partnership, commissioning, resources, leadership and culture, corporate and political support and scrutiny remain and leave the authority uncertainly placed in respect of its prospects for improvement.
I have concluded that the scale of improvement in Swansea has been insufficient, given the considerable investment of time and assistance the Inspectorate has provided since invoking the Protocol. Moreover, that level of intervention cannot be sustained indefinitely.
Take that help away, and the risk is too great that the current position – highly unsatisfactory as it still is – will deteriorate further.
At this point, I should like to recognise, as Inspectors have done, the dedication and commitment of the authority’s front line staff who strive, often in difficult circumstances, to provide services capable of responding to needs and of safeguarding the children and young people of Swansea and of supporting their families. I am sure you would all wish to join me in doing so. They must however be supported by authority wide support and strong corporate leadership if their hard work is to be effective and if the improvements required of children’s social services in Swansea are to be achieved.
This leadership has not been adequate during the period when the protocol has been in place and there have been concerning examples of delay in tackling improvement areas and in establishing an Improvement Board to promote this work. There has also been evidence of insufficient coherence and focus across the authority and I call upon all members of the authority, of whatever political complexion, to fulfil their responsibilities as a corporate parent for the children in its care. The role of the corporate parent is to seek for children in public care the outcome every good parent would want for their own children and I set out the responsibilities which this entailed in my letter of September 2008 to all elected members of local authorities in Wales.
I am not prepared for social services for children to fall and remain below acceptable standards, and consider that the City and County of Swansea has failed to make sufficient progress to tackle the issues identified by the 2007 Inspection and to bring about the necessary improvements in those services.
I have therefore met this morning with the Deputy Leader and Social Services Portfolio Holder to inform them that I am considering making an Order under Section 84 of the Children Act 1989 declaring them in default of certain of their functions in relation to the provision of children’s social services, and directing them to take certain action. I am today writing to the authority to confirm this and providing them with an opportunity to respond to this proposal within 2 weeks. I shall also be advising the Welsh Local Government Association of this.
The authority’s response will be assessed against my determination that children’s social services in Swansea are improved quickly and as a priority. In moving to issue such an order, I am keen that it ensures that the responsibility for bringing about the improvement needed remains with the members of the authority who are elected to do this work.
I intend to put in place an Intervention Board to provide robust external challenge to the authority in doing so. I would make appointments to that Board which should include a Chair drawn from outside social services and local government, a current or past Director of Social Services, Head of Children’s Social Services, local authority Chief Executive and elected member in local government with experience in social services matters.
The Intervention Board will have substantial powers to require the Authority to take all responsible steps to enable it to fulfil its responsibilities, to provide robust external challenge to the authority at political and officer level, to report to overview scrutiny boards on the progress being made by the authority and to report to me on the authority’s progress at regular intervals which I shall determine.
I am aware of the fact that this is the first occasion when such an order might be issued in respect of a local authority in Wales but feel that the circumstances are such that I must give very serious consideration to doing so.
I shall write to members of this Assembly informing them of the action I take following the opportunity to provide a response which I have offered to Swansea.
