'Clear progress' made to South Tyneside children's services following 'inadequate' rating

Councillors will next week be given an update on the state of play in South Tyneside Council’s children’s services department, which was rated “inadequate” by Ofsted inspectors in a report published in May 2023.

The verdict was delivered following inspection visits in December 2022 and February 2023, with inspectors concluding there had been a decline in the quality of services since the council’s last full inspection in 2017.

At that time the local authority received a “good” rating, however, the subsequent inspections found “serious failures which had resulted in some children’s welfare not being safeguarded or promoted”.

As part of the improvement notice issued following that report, an adviser from the Department for Education was appointed to work with the council to monitor progress.

In the latest DfE review of the council’s improvement journey in October 2023, it was noted that: “There has been clear progress made since the publication of the Ofsted report in May 2023.

It continued: “Indeed, work on improvement began immediately following the first part of the inspection in December 2022.

“The leadership team has undertaken significant work to identify and understand the causes of failure in South Tyneside’s children’s services, and they are clearly committed to resolving the problems identified.”

Councillor Adam Ellison, cabinet member for children and families’ social care, said they have made “real strides to start grappling” with the issues identified by Ofsted as part of their “learning journey.”

He added: “We’ve got a really good staff team in South Tyneside that have really embraced the journey that we’ve been on and really invested their time as well into making things right for our young people.

“There’s been some really positive actions over recent months to get to where we are and some of the feedback we’re now starting to see from those people that are looking into the service is really positive as well.

“I would say it’s a positive start to what is a really important journey for South Tyneside.”

He added work to date has allowed them to put some “real foundations and structures” in place and they hope to see “quite rapid improvements over the next year or so.”

As part of the response to the inadequate rating, an improvement board with external partners has been established to oversee the implementation of the improvement plan and report on progress.

Council chiefs have noted “much work” has been carried out to increase the number of places for looked-after children.

This includes construction being underway on new children’s homes which will “almost triple” the number of places for children in care, with three new homes estimated to go live this year.

Meanwhile, fees for foster carers have been increased to encourage more people to consider taking on this rewarding role.

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Stuart Easingwood, council director of children’s service since October 2023, said the authority has “put its money where its mouth is” in investing in additional provision for young people, but warned there is “no quick fix” as they continue their improvement journey.

He added: “This is the beginning of something that is going to be taking somewhere between a year and 18 months in terms of that improvement journey, so what we’re trying to do is to make sure that we’re building from strong foundations.

“I think really important to me is that kind of iterative build up of improvement as we go, rather than thinking we can do a kind of seismic shift, it’s actually building up that process to make sure that we’re on a continual improvement journey.

“It’s a whole system that needs to actually wrap around in order to improve those outcomes. Whilst the council plays a significant role, it’s wider than the council, it’s about working in partnership.”

He added as part of the various steps the local authority has carried out they have gathered the “voice of lived experience” and engaged with groups of children with special educational needs and disabilities.

Reports from council officers highlighted how Ofsted was critical of the local authority’s management of unregistered placements in 2022.

Town hall chiefs said it is “important to note” while children were placed in accommodation not registered with Ofsted, the children continued to be supported by their allocated workers and “no child came to harm as a result of being in one of these placements.”

However, they have reassured staff and leaders have “worked tirelessly” to prevent children being placed in unregistered provision and no children in South Tyneside are currently in unregistered care.

The report, which will go before the next full council meeting, notes a key focus of the improvement journey has been enhancing the recording of decision-making in children’s files.

Council chiefs noted regular audit work is now carried out and moderated by a neighbouring authority to ensure the effectiveness of the changes made, while this scrutiny “may be expanded” in the future to refine the authority’s processes.

The report also highlights progress made with regard to the timeliness of assessments for children needing care, with timeliness improving from almost 71 per cent in 2022/23 to more than 94 per cent in 2023/24.

Cllr Ellison said the report, which will go before all councillors to be debated, is a “really transparent document” and “acknowledges what the issues were” as well as giving an overview of the improvement journey to date.

He added: “I think what we’ve done through this period is be as transparent as we possibly can be.

“We have been as open and honest as we can about where we’re at and have put things in front of people that keep it at the forefront of everybody’s minds.

“We’re now in the position to give that assurance that the journey that we’re on is at the very early stage, but we are on the right track to make those improvements.”

The report will be discussed at a full council meeting at South Shields Town Hall starting at 6pm on Thursday, January 18.

If agreed by councillors, further updates will be brought to appropriate existing forums for scrutiny and assurance purposes and to ensure councillors are appraised of the improvement journey.

The report comes after Ofsted completed the first of its monitoring visits to South Tyneside at the end of November 2023 to ensure progress continues to be made.

These will continue every three months or so for at least the next year, and while outcomes from the first visit are unpublished, subsequent visits will include published documents by Ofsted.