Working in partnership with Plymouth City Council our specialist
consultancy Cambridge Education is working in a joint venture with
OLM Group to improve Plymouth’s standards of children’s social
care. The project, which will be completed in March 2008, follows a
series of poor inspection reports of social care for children in
the city.
The project covers every aspect of social care and expects the
strategic partner to contribute to the development of a Plymouth
City Council Children’s Services department, which was established
in September 2005. Eleven themes have been specified:
- Working with elected members
- Integration of children’s services to deliver the Change For
Children (c4C) agenda
- Commissioning and financial planning
- Workforce strategy
- Safeguarding of children
- Policies, procedures and practices guidance for all areas of
Plymouth City Council’s social work practice
- Service eligibility
- Quality of assessments for children and young people
- Fostering and adoption services
- CAMHS (mental health) service
- Services for children with disabilities
From the outset there has been a close partnership between CE/OLM,
as the strategic partner, and the City Council. Detailed monitoring
has been carried out and has been subject to regular review by the
local authority, the inspectorate CSCI and the Government Office
for the South West (GOSW). A detailed risk review register has been
compiled and there have been close informal links among the
authority’s Director of Children’s Services (DCS), the Project
Director and the Project Lead.
The first part of the contract saw diagnosis, identification of
priorities and the disposal of backlogs. The DCS was very clear
that she wanted leadership by example and role modelling. In order
to achieve those ends, 14 Interim Managers were originally
deployed, supported by consultants. The second stage has been
typified by the developed of secure systems and the development of
staff at all levels. Given a Joint Area Review during this stage,
there was also considerable attention paid to that, but not to the
detriment of long term aims. The third stage is the appointment of
permanent staff and the handing over of responsibility from the
Interim Managers. This extends from January 2007 until the end of
the project, with the external support of the strategic partner
being gradually and systematically withdrawn.
Early indications are that the service has made enormous
improvements. Given the quality of the Interim Managers and the
strength of the partnership between the City Council and the
strategic partner, that is in many ways unsurprising. It is also
gratifying to see that the budget remains firmly under control, if
under pressure as usual. The next stage is the critical one, as
external support is taken away and responsibilities are handed back
to Plymouth City Council.
