More needs to be done in safeguarding at Warrington Borough Council (From Warrington Guardian)

More needs to be done in safeguarding at Warrington Borough Council

8:40am Saturday 6th February 2010 in

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A PUBLIC review of the safeguarding service for children, recently hit with a critical report by Ofsted, has revealed that further improvements are still needed.

The safeguarding service is in charge of the welfare of children who reside in care homes, or assessing children who may need to be placed into care.

Its principal officers fended questions at a public meeting last week as the scrutiny committee for children decided how much progress has been made since the Ofsted inspection in November.

Key issues outlined in the improvement plan, drawn up after the poor Ofsted report, included the capacity, capability and sustainability of the workforce used by the service being improved.

Service chief Steve Love warned the committe that such changes would take time.

“There is no point just adding to the numbers” he said.

“We have got to find ways to sustain improvement as there is no quick fix, but we want to get better. ”

Clr Sue Dodd, who was chairing the scrutiny committee, said ‘extra reassurances’ were needed that workforce improvements would be made.

She said: “Information that seemed ok has been allowed to slide in the past.”

Safeguarding service chiefs admitted that some staff members needed ‘back to basics training’, specifically in areas such as family support and intervention.

The service also acknowledged that because of staff deficiencies, using agency workers is unavoidable.

This has led to concerns about the impact less-qualified temporary workers will have on vulnerable children who need long-term security.

Mr Love added: “We have sought to appoint people who are committed to Warrington in the long term.

“Some agency staff are excellent but we must be realistic – it is a bigger risk – but if we want to make sure children are seen on time we