BRADFORD’S Children’s Services has improved, but any progress “has been too slow to show impact for children and families.”

Ofsted yesterday released the results of their latest monitoring inspection into Bradford Council Children’s Services - the fifth such inspection since the department was judged “inadequate” in 2018.

Although there are some positives in the report, many of the issues highlighted in previous visits - from struggles to recruit experienced social workers to assessments taking too long - remain.

A letter to the Council says the “slow pace” of change is partly down to a mix of pressures caused by the Covid pandemic and “due to the breadth and depth of the inadequacy identified in (the inspection in) 2018.

The findings will be discussed by Bradford Council’s Executive at a meeting on Tuesday.

The letter from Ofsted said: “There have been four previous monitoring visits, which have all reported on the slow pace of change in improving the quality of core social work practice.

Staffing issue is 'elephant in the room' for Bradford Children's Services - according to Councillor

“Although the service has been restructured and there has been significant investment in staffing and service improvement planning, due to the breadth and depth of the inadequacy identified in 2018, this has not led to sufficient positive change for some children.

“Inspectors identified delays in the completion of assessments leading to delays in the identification of risk, need and early intervention.

“Senior leaders have been successful in recruiting to management posts at all levels and to specialist positions. However, the recruitment of experienced social workers remains a challenge.

“This means that there are still some social workers with high caseloads, and children still experience too many changes of social worker and managers. As a result, too often, children’s circumstances are not improving quickly enough.

“There is very recent evidence that, since February, newly commissioned agency social work teams have incrementally been introduced, increasing social work capacity by 50 practitioners.

“Social workers told inspectors that senior managers are available and approachable and that their supervision is regular, providing a helpful space to talk and think about children’s cases.

“However, the written record is not as successful in demonstrating

this level of reflection.

“Social workers are positive about working in Bradford and told inspectors that they value the new mandatory training programme.”

Sue Duffy was appointed as new portfolio holder for children and families last month after the previous holder, Councillor Adrian Farley, lost his seat at the local elections.

She said: “As the new portfolio holder for children and families I am absolutely committed to making sure all our district’s children get the best possible service. While I welcome the fact that Ofsted have identified areas where children and young people are getting better support, I am keen to make sure that we accelerate the speed of improvement. 

“Ofsted are very clear in their assessment about how positive social workers are about working in the district and that the new training they receive is already producing better assessments.

"This is critical as Ofsted also say that we need to achieve a consistent quality of social work.

"I will be working relentlessly to seek assurances from the management team that the additional investment the Council has made will drive improvements at pace over the coming months so we can deliver the excellent services which our children deserve.”

Mark Douglas, Strategic Director of Children’s Services, said: “Ofsted have recognised that we are making progress in our improvement journey. We know that there are still areas we need to change and that in some, particularly with the quality of some social work, improvement has not happened fast enough.

"Ofsted have recognised that a new senior management team is in place and there is an improved front door into the service, revamped training, and improved quality assurance and performance management.

"We were aware of all the issues raised by Ofsted. With the added investment that has been made into the service we are focusing on rapidly improving the areas Ofsted have identified as areas for further improvement.”