Agenda item

Cabinet Member: Children, Education & Families

Forward Plan Ref: 2016/052

Contact: Hannah Farncombe, Deputy Director – Corporate Parenting & Safeguarding Tel: (01865) 815273

Report by Director for Children’s Services (CA12).

In early March Ofsted, The Care Quality Commission, HMI Constabulary and HMI Probation undertook a joint inspection of the multi-agency response to child sexual exploitation, children missing from home, care or education and the front door to children’s social care. This resulted in the publication of a detailed letter outlining the findings of the effectiveness of partnership working and the working of individual agencies in Oxfordshire.

The Director of Children’s Services is required to submit a written statement of action to Ofsted by 15 August 2016, which will be accompanied by the detailed action plan that addresses the areas for improvement identified by the JTAI.

Cabinet is RECOMMENDED to approve in principle the attached Written Statement of Action and Action Plan (Annexes 1&2) prior to submission to Ofsted by 15^th August 2016.

In early March Ofsted, The Care Quality Commission, HMI Constabulary and HMI Probation undertook a joint inspection of the multi-agency response to child sexual exploitation, children missing from home, care or education and the front door to children’s social care. This resulted in the publication of a detailed letter outlining the findings of the effectiveness of partnership working and the working of individual agencies in Oxfordshire.

The Director of Children’s Services is required to submit a written statement of action to Ofsted by 15 August 2016, which will be accompanied by the detailed action plan that addresses the areas for improvement identified by the JTAI. Cabinet received for approval the written statement of action and action plan.

Councillor Howson referred to the current direction of travel of education with schools becoming ever more independent. He sought assurance that given there was no indication of sign up from individual schools to taking the action plan forward and with the lack of a strategic post that the plan could be delivered. Ongoing training was important but so was training for new entrants which was becoming school based. From the corporate parenting panel he highlighted that there was no information at all from schools on missing episodes. He also expressed concern at the time taken to admit   vulnerable children to school.

Councillor Gill Sanders, Shadow Cabinet Member for Children, Education & Families welcomed the key strengths identified in the Inspection. With regard to the MASH the County Council had become a victim of its own success. There was a major problem caused by raised awareness of child safeguarding and the huge increase in referrals. She noted that no further action resulted in 75% of the cases and these unnecessary referrals created difficulty when resources could not be increased in order to keep pace. She added that her Group supported the action plan but would want to see further training for schools, police and other groups on the appropriate level of concern for a referral.

Jim Leivers, Director for Children’s Services, gave an assurance that as Director he had signed up to the plan on behalf of the local authority including schools, who had been consulted extensively. The same was true for other organisations with the Chief Constable owning the plan for the police. He stressed that this had been a joint inspection by a team from a number of organisations around issues around child sexual exploitation. There had been a narrative outcome and before Cabinet was the proposed response to that narrative. It was not and never intended to be a comprehensive review. The performance on the MASH had been discussed on a number of occasions and he recognised that the inundation of referrals was one of the challenges. Changes were laid out in the appendices but he stressed that this not a report about the MASH.

RESOLVED:             to approve in principle the attached Written Statement of Action and Action Plan as set out at annexes 1&2 of the report prior to submission to Ofsted by 15^th August 2016.