Period of ‘sombre reflection’ drives change to young services at Suffolk County Council
Plans have been outlined to address the downgrade of a council’s children’s services.
In August, Suffolk County Council saw its rating for children’s services downgraded to requiring improvement by Ofsted after a report found its provision had worsened since the authority’s last inspection in 2019.
Bobby Bennett, the council’s lead for children and young people’s (CYP) services, has provided an update on the measures the authority had implemented.
Cllr Bennett highlighted the work of staff in ensuring the best experiences for children already in care – the only metric rated as good by Ofsted.
She said that work was being carried out at pace as the service went through a root-and-branch transformation.
Cllr Bennett added: “The report found some excellent pockets of work, where our staff were praised consistently.
“What we don’t have is a structure and process that is working consistently for CYP and, more importantly, for Suffolk families.”
One of these measures has included bringing in the equivalent of six full-time staff, including four extra personal advisers to support those leaving the care service and to help individuals understand their entitlements.
This was to address the report’s finding of “significant inconsistency” in the quality of support received by care leavers, with some describing them as overworked and only involved when they needed to be.
In the meantime, Cllr Bennett’s update said the council would continue to work towards making sure services for those leaving care was more consistent.
Other new appointments include an interim transformation and improvement assistant director, Gail Hancock, and an interim programme manager.
Ms Hancock said: “This is clearly very disappointing, and it doesn’t reflect the council’s commitment and ambition to deliver consistently good and better services for young people and families in Suffolk.
“This outcome has, however, prompted a period of sombre reflection and renewed determination to improve.”
A new strengthening services board has also been established to reinforce strategic governance arrangements. It will meet for the first time at the end of January.
Monitoring will continue to take place, and engagement is being welcomed from young people and their families.
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