CHILDREN’S social services are moving towards improvement in the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole area – with the journey to becoming better likely to take at least 18 months.

The department was judged as inadequate overall in 2020 with an inspection in December 2021 concluding that although there were signs of some improvement: “there remain too many areas where progress has been neither sufficiently swift nor decisive.”

New corporate director for the service Cathi Hadley says there are already signs of the ‘green shoots’ of improvement in some areas but has warned that multiple problems might slow the speed of change everyone wants to see.

Read more: BCP Council children's services 'inadequate' with kids at risk

Among them are staff shortages with recruitment being affected by the ‘inadequate’ rating compared to neighbouring Dorset which is rated ‘good’ and Hampshire ‘outstanding.’

More than 30per cent of the BCP children’s workforce are agency workers, which Ms Hadley warns could leave at a moment’s notice, with almost nine out of ten staff operating “front door” services now agency workers, a key area where referrals are assessed and an action plan agreed.

The council has attempted to overcome the problem by recruiting from abroad – six staff are currently in the process of joining from Rwanda with another six to follow in April.

Read more: TIMELINE: BCP Council's children's services failings

A comprehensive ‘improvement plan’ was signed off this week by the council with progress now being closely monitored by a Department of Education improvement adviser. Senior managers from Hampshire have offered to help guide the process of change.

“We are beginning to move forward…what we have to do is stabilise the service, build solid, really strong foundations on which we can then move forward,” the corporate director told Monday evening’s overview and scrutiny committee.

One of her key aims will be on retaining and recruiting staff with a report being prepared into the local package on offer to trained social workers, an area where there has long been a national shortage.

Ms Hadley said the issues were often not only about pay but the availability of good training and career progression; the number of cases, which can vary between 45 and 14; support from managers and flexible working with a nine-day fortnight, or four-day week being looked at for some.

Among the changes which have already taken place is reducing the number of young people in places of multiple occupation, often bed and breakfast, which has gone down from 14 at the time of the report, to just one, a 21-year-old.

Also being changed is action at, or before the birth of a child likely to be at risk, with reports now being prepared earlier.

The meeting was told that Ofsted mini inspections would start this June with 5-6 of them across the service over a period of 18 months. Only then, if improvements were being made, would Ofsted carry out another full inspection.

“We are not in a position yet where everybody knows what ‘good’ looks like. We need to build the foundations first…we need to have optimism in what we are doing,” said the director.

The meeting also heard that a review is to take place in April with the Department of Education and Ofsted about the council’s improvement plan for children with special education needs which followed on from an inspection report, requiring a Written Statement of Action.

Director of education Sarah Rempel told the meeting that there had been progress across almost all of the eight areas of significant weakness and another Ofsted monitoring visit was now planned for April 27th.

As with children’s services there is also a warning that improvement may take some time – a report to committee concluding: “BCP Council, Dorset Clinical Commissioning Group and all partners are committed to making improvements as quickly as we can. However, the written statement is a long-term plan. Some actions will be completed in a few months, others will take over a year, and families may not experience a difference for some time in some of the areas.”

Pic – Corprate director or BCP children’s services, Cathi Hadley, at the Monday evening meeting.