Blaenau Gwent Social Services

My statement today will bring Assembly Members up to date on my use of the protocol for responding to serious concern about social services for children and families in Blaenau Gwent County Borough Council.  This protocol was agreed between the Assembly Government and the Welsh Local Government Association and also been used for children’s services in Cardiff.

Concerns about Social Services in Blaenau Gwent were highlighted in the Joint Review Report published in May 2003. I met the Leader of the Council immediately following publication of the report and was assured of his commitment to providing the political and senior management leadership necessary to bring about the required changes.  I also requested that the Chief Inspector of the Social Services put in place a special inspection of children’s services within 6 months of publication:

Initial progress was inadequate particularly in dealing with management and capacity issues.  I met the Leader again in December to impress upon him the need for greater progress and indicated that I would wish to see him again when SSIW’s report on the Children’s Inspection was available.

Following my meeting, the authority introduced changes to its Social Services Management arrangements.  The Director of Social Services departed and three interim managers were appointed to the posts of Director of Social Services, Assistant Directors for Children’s Services and for Business Systems and Performance.  These managers took up their positions in April of this year.

The Chief Inspector also initiated discussions with the Chief Executive and senior managers in December regarding concerns that had come from the findings of the Children’s Inspection, the fieldwork for which was completed in early December.  The initial focus was on a number of individual cases that had caused concern to Inspectors and on the extent to which the authority had followed statutory requirements and procedures regarding.  He also raised his concerns about social services at the Wales Programme for Improvement Board.  The problems in social services reflected wider problems in corporate management and political governance in the authority, and the Council’s leadership formally requested assistance in tackling its improvement needs.  As my colleague the Minister for Finance, Local Government and Public Services announced in February, Blaenau Gwent agreed to the setting up of an Advisory Board.  This demonstrates the Council’s recognition of the problems it faces and recognises the constructive partnership approach we have in Wales.

The Advisory Board has made social services its first priority and is closely monitoring and advising the Council on the way it is dealing with its problems.  At the same time it is helping the Council to deal with the corporate issues that contributed to the problems that exist in social services.

I have no doubt that the Council leadership is fully committed to making the necessary improvements and that, through the Advisory Board, it is receiving the external advice and assistance it needs.  I am pleased that the Improvement Board partners are working together to tackle problems in this way.  I am particularly pleased that another Council, Caerphilly, gave vital practical support in loaning a children’s services manager to Blaenau Gwent at a critical time.  This is the Wales Programme for Improvement in action.

SSIW’s Inspection Report on children’s services was published on 27 April 2004 and confirmed a serious level of concern about them.  While the responses to immediate risk remains prompt, there were particular concerns about the fostering service, areas of decision making concerning vulnerable children and the use of guidance, procedures and regulations.  I met the Leader on 28 April to discuss these concerns and he accepted the gravity of the problems and recognised social services as the highest priority for improvement.

In view of these concerns about children’s services in particular, I have invoked the protocol for dealing with serious concern, and the Chief Inspector of Social Services has written to the authority setting out clear expectations as to the practical improvements that it must now deliver.  This letter was made available to the Health and Social Services Committee at its meeting on 23 June.  The letter is available to Members here today.

At this stage, his letter focuses on 3 priority areas: progressing specific casework issues, strengthening quality assurance and developing systems which can generate reliable performance information.  Progress on them will provide a sound basis upon which sustained improvement can be made by the authority.  

The Chief Inspector has set out his expectations for progress by the end of July.  He will then evaluate the position and set further quarterly performance targets, dealing with referrals, assessment, planning and reviewing, in relation to all children in need, including child protection, children looked after by the authority and foster care.  I will receive regular reports on progress following his monitoring of the authority’s performance following the end of each quarter.  

The actions which I have taken are designed to bring about the improvement needed for the vulnerable children of Blaenau Gwent.  The Chief Inspector will maintain a rigorous oversight of the progress being made by the authority in improving its services for children and targets set will seek to drive the pace of this improvement.  I consider the approach adopted to be an appropriate response to the problems identified in this service area and shall of course ensure that the Health and Social Services Committee is kept informed on Blaenau Gwent’s progress following each quarterly monitoring.