Story updated 26 October 2022
Children who met thresholds were left waiting up to six weeks to see a social worker due to "significant, widespread and systemic" weaknesses in a council's front door service, Ofsted has found.
Inspectors downgraded Nottingham City Council from 'requires improvement' to 'inadequate' on the back of a full inspection in July, prompting the Department for Education (DfE) to appoint an adviser to chair the city's improvement board for children's services.
The inadequate rating overall was driven by provision for children in need of help and protection, particularly the multi-agency safeguarding hub (MASH).
Inspectors found that most cases were not processed within timescales appropriate to children's risks and needs, including where there were allegations of significant harm, meaning some children were left at continued risk but without safety plans.
Children left waiting for up to six weeks
Delays of up to six weeks in children who met thresholds being seen were driven in part by "complicated systems", which meant partners sometimes took as long as 16 days to respond to social workers' requests for information. A significant number of children experienced repeated contacts and referrals before receiving the help they needed, said Ofsted.Inspectors also criticised management oversight, which was not effective in applying thresholds, providing social workers with direction or overseeing the timeliness of contacts.
Senior leaders identified the backlogs in the MASH in November last year, however, their initial efforts to improve timeliness were not successful as they resulted in more children being referred, said Ofsted. In May this year, the council recruited an extra social work team to manage the pressures but inspectors found that this had not been effective in ensuring a timely and safe response to children who met thresholds - including some at risk of significant harm.
Leaders acknowledged the situation was "unacceptable" and, in response, audited significant numbers of cases to ensure children's needs had been appropriately assessed, and also brought forward planned changes to the MASH.
In a statement to Community Care, the authority said: "We’ve already committed additional resources, both managerial and social work, to support our work in the MASH. We’re acutely aware of how important this area is and are working at pace, alongside a multi-agency partnership, to improve our timeliness and threshold decision-making within the MASH."
Practice better beyond the MASH
Beyond the MASH, inspectors found that child in need and child protection practice was better. Most assessments had a clear purpose and rationale for intervention, with direct work providing valuable insights into children's experiences, and their needs being well-considered by plans that also included their wishes and feelings.Social workers built positive relationships with children and their families, including through persistent engagement with parents that led to improved outcomes for children. They were also skilled at gathering children's views, using age-appropriate tools, and had a good understanding of their needs.
Unlike in the MASH, strategy discussions in response to allegations of significant harm were timely and thresholds appropriately applied, and section 47 enquiries led to decisions that reduced risks and ensured children were protected.
Inspectors also praised practice for children at risk of criminal or sexual exploitation, for whom detailed assessments, multi-agency meetings and effective planning were reducing risks.
Children also benefited from early and authoritative decisions to escalate cases to pre-proceedings and care proceedings - though some children faced delays in going into care and were left in neglectful circumstances for too long.
Non-social work staff handling 'complex safeguarding'
However, Ofsted found that for children who went missing from home or care, return home interviews were not held consistently or in a timely fashion, and often lacked sufficient analysis of the child's circumstances, meaning they did not contribute to safety planning.The designated officer service to manage allegations against professionals was vulnerable because non-social work qualified staff were involved in gathering information in "a complex and specialist area of safeguarding", a situation compounded by a lack of management oversight, inspectors added.
This was a problem across help and protection services, which were rated inadequate by Ofsted, with supervision being of variable quality and frequency, and some records lacking reflection on children's circumstances or timescales for progress.
