Liverpool City Council’s Children and Young People’s Services have been praised by the Department for Education following a six-month review. Officials visited the city following the publication of Ofsted’s inspection report earlier this year. The review team met with social workers, team managers, heads of services, service managers and assistant directors, as well as senior council officials and the cabinet members for children’s services.
The report concluded that the council had made “positive steps on its improvement journey” and was “ambitious and committed to improving children’s services”. Staff had started to see a reduction in caseloads and felt more listened to and engaged, while the council’s significant financial investment showed its commitment to service improvement.
Cabinet Member for Children’s Social Services, Cllr Liz Parsons, welcomed the feedback but warned that further success would take “time, commitment and determination”.
The council’s children’s services was rated ‘inadequate’ in October 2015. A subsequent report by former child protection chief, Malcolm Newsam, highlighted “serious and widespread failures”.
A newly-appointed team has introduced a transformation plan to change the way the council approaches child protection issues. It has moved to offer in-house services rather than outsourcing, reduced caseloads and introduced new training regimes to improve the knowledge and skills of social workers.
Liz Parsons added: “I know how hard our staff are working to embrace the changes we are making to deliver on our ambition of making sure we provide the best possible services for young people.
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