Ofsted has found that Devon County Council children’s services are still “leaving children at risk of harm” due to “serious weaknesses” in the way some children – particularly those experiencing neglect and domestic abuse or at risk of extra-familial harm – are cared for.
In an inspection report published this week Ofsted rated the county council children’s social care performance as inadequate in four areas and requiring improvement in another, the same rating as its previous inspection report published in March 2020.
Ofsted has performed monitoring visits each year since, but nevertheless found during its inspection last autumn that “children’s experiences in Devon remain poor”.
It said that the appointment of county council chief executive Donna Manson in 2023, and some other senior leaders, had led to “increased stability” in the council’s leadership.
However it also pointed out that there have been multiple Devon children’s services directors in the period between the two Ofsted inspection reports.
Melissa Caslake took on the role for 18 months following the retirement of Jo Olsson in December 2020, before Julian Wooster replaced her on a interim basis from January to September 2023.
Stuart Collins then became children’s director for just over a year, after which Julian Wooster resumed the role in December last year.
Ofsted says that despite some improvement resulting from the county council’s “clear determination” to turn services around, the positive impact for children and care leavers has not been widespread.
When its inspection report was discussed in prospect by a children’s scrutiny committee in March, committee chair Tracy Adams asked Donna Manson and Julian Wooster whether they were “feeling confident that we are putting in place things that are keeping our children safe?”
Julian Wooster replied: “What we try and do is to reduce likelihood of harm to children” and added that there was more work to be done.
Photo: Devon County Council.
Ofsted’s latest inspection report arrives against a backdrop of ongoing Special Educational Needs & Disabilities (SEND) failings at County Hall.
Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission first judged Devon County Council SEND provision inadequate in 2018 finding “significant weaknesses” in local implementation of reforms introduced by the government four years earlier.
A follow-up inspection in 2022 found that the county council’s SEND improvement strategy was still not being implemented on the ground. Issues with recruitment and staff retention were not being addressed and communication with parents remained poor.
In response, the council set up a SEND Strategic Partnership Board, which includes county council CEO Donna Manson and other SEND officers as well as representatives from NHS Devon, local schools and the Department for Education.
The board produced a SEND improvement plan in April 2023. Six months later, John Hart, who was then leading the Conservative majority council, appointed Lois Samuel to a cabinet post with responsibility for improving SEND services.
Lois Samuel stood for re-election in the Devon County Council elections on 1 May but lost her seat along with 32 other Conservatives, another three of whom had also been Cabinet members.
The Liberal Democrats, who won the most seats in the election and are expected to govern with the support of the newly-formed Green and Independent Group, now face the twin tasks of improving children’s social care and SEND services at the same time.
A new county council leader, deputy leader and cabinet members with responsibility for these services will be appointed at Devon County Council meeting next Thursday.
