Minutes:
The chair introduced Simon Rea and Ben Bryant from the ISOS Partnership, who had worked with LGA officers on the Action Research into Improvement in Local Children’s Services Project. They advised members that the interim report had been published in February and that the final report would be published today (29th June). They gave an overview of the findings, advising members that it had looked at two key questions: ‘what are the key enablers of (and barriers to) improvement in local children’s services?’ and ‘how can the system as a whole facilitate and support improvement in local children’s services?’ They had worked with 9 local areas and had supplemented this by speaking to a further 6. The research would now be shared with Ofsted and DfE.
Key questions noted for further research included approaches to improvement such as: developing the capacity for self-assessment, driving consistent practice across a service and being open to working with others in the local area to spread effective practice. A coherent approach on gathering intelligence to create a clear, specific evidence base on interventions would also assist improvement.
Time scale for improvement depended on the depth of failings in a service and recognition of this. It took around 6 to 12 months to strengthen core systems and around 2 years to improve a service on the whole.
In the discussion which followed, the following points were made:
· Members welcomed the report and the outcome. They highlighted that improvement was a difficult area and that it would take time. Denial of failings in a service needed to be avoided.
· Members asked how the LGA would ensure the findings of the report were taken forward. It would be important to continue working with chief executives and political leaders in this area.
· Members felt that many councils needed to prioritise Children’s Services work and asked if this could be emphasised in public relations work. The LGA’s peer learning and peer support work was highlighted as important for service improvement in this respect.
· Members discussed the increasing pressure on children’s services, and emphasised they would like to see this acknowledged.
Response:
· On political leadership, members were advised that the report included a section describing the recommended focus of leaders in an improvement journey.
· Members were advised that the report also discussed peer review in detail, including opportunities to bring organisations together to work to improve a failing service.
· It was suggested that the board could approach DfE and Ofsted to discuss working together.
· Regional seminars could be used as a tool to ensure the findings of the report were acted upon.
· LGA officers advised members that a workshop on political leadership had been organised for the following week. This would be a good opportunity for lead members to disseminate the research.
Decision:
1.Members noted the paper and endorsed its key recommendations.
Actions:
1. Members requested that the report was sent out to all local authorities.
2. Officers to send members a link to the published report.