Nottinghamshire Council children’s services says market is ‘broken’ following Ofsted visit

Ofsted inspectors visited the authority in April to look at the council’s arrangements for children in need or subject to a child protection plan.

During the visit inspectors found, while children are being ‘supported at the right level of need’, the direction of visits is ‘not always sufficiently focused, time-bound or detailed’.

They also found the quality of care plans ‘varied’ and sometimes ‘lack precision and do not allow for meaningful measurement of progress’.

The visit itself plays no part in the department’s wider Ofsted grading, which is ‘good’ overall following a 2019 inspection – a full inspection will be carried out towards the end of 2023.

Colin Pettigrew, council corporate director, children, families and cultural services told a council children and young people’s select committee meeting that staffing problems were hampering progress, and said a local authority about 40 miles from Nottinghamshire is currently advertising for agency social workers at a rate of up to £57 an hour – about £93,600 a year.

Mr Pettigrew also referenced a neighbouring council’s recent ‘inadequate’ inspection for children’s services, which could mean the authority hikes pay to attract staff.

He said: “We, like every other local authority, are facing major challenges in recruiting and retaining social workers. The market, frankly, is broken.

“When a local authority finds itself in a poor place, one of the ways that authority will act is to ensure it brings caseloads down and has more social workers.

“Those authorities in difficulty are paying significant premiums to attract social workers.”

Coun Anne Callaghan, member for Mansfield North, said: “The report does highlight some improvements which is good. However, there are concerns.

“If we’ve had a management plan to address concerns since the 2019 report, why haven’t we seen improvements?”

Amanda Collinson, council service director, help, care and protection, said: “It’s important to say they also found some strengths.

“One of our challenges has been being consistent. In some places, we have a good service and in others, it’s not as good as we want it to be.

“Our focus is now on consistent practice.”

The council confirmed it has an action plan to address the recommendations and improve service quality.