Swift action on children's social care

RADICAL improvements are being made to children and young people’s social care services in Warrington, according to Town Hall chiefs.
Since an unannounced Ofsted inspection towards the end of last year, which labelled some services as “inadequate,” considerable progress has been made in improving these critical services through a comprehensive action plan.
The targets set for the first phase at the end of March have already been exceeded, say council chiefs, and work is continuing to focus on the second stage during the next six months.
A new management team is delivering a comprehensive improvement action plan which is the driving force behind making positive changes to the service.
A major theme behind the ethos of the plan is to make sure that staff have the right tools, skills and resources to carry out their tasks.
One of the recent targets achieved supports this in that all social workers have direct, online access to revised and robust policies and procedures.
Kath O’Dwyer, (pictured) executive director for Children and Young People’s Services, said: “We accepted at the start that the improvement journey would be a challenge and we set ourselves some ambitious targets.
“However, we are cultivating a culture of continuous improvements which will deliver real change. Our successful restructure of the service means we have support from high calibre front line staff and managers, who will play a vital role in delivering change.
“Of course there needs to be a bedding-in period if our new ways of working are to have maximum impact, but we are committed to and are well on track to achieving our targets.”
Coun Sheila Woodyatt, executive member for Children and Young People’s Services, said: “We have been committed to swift and appropriate action right from the start and will continue reach those ambitious targets.
“Above all we must work together to get this right and will continue to do everything in our power to ensure that all Warrington’s children and young people are protected and safe.”
Progress is being closely monitored by the council’s scrutiny committee, representatives from Government Office North West and the Department for Children, Schools and Families.