A senior officer says he is “confident” of culture change at Sefton’s troubled children’s services after a government appointed commissioner gave his verdict.
Commissioner Paul Moffat held back from recommending the troubled service be taken over by another council or held in trust.
He has been carrying out a review since being appointed in June after Sefton Council received the worst possible rating of ‘inadequate’ for its children’s services following an “bleak” Ofsted inspection earlier this year.
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In his report to the secretary of state for education published last week Mr Moffat gave 11 key recommendations following his three month review- including retaining a commissioner to oversee change at the council.
In a move welcomed by Sefton Council, Mr Moffat did not recommend setting up a trust to run the service or bring in another council to take over – which were two options available. He said such a move would likely delay efforts to improve the service at this stage.
While improvements were beginning to take shape, Mr Moffat said there was still much work to be done to turn things around – including around tackling an embedded “culture of non-compliance” which had become a “coping strategy” for staff amid a dysfunctional working environment.
Sefton Council’s cabinet member for children’s social care, Cllr Mhairi Doyle said she welcomed the report and was “fully committed” to the improvement journey ahead.
Cllr Doyle said: “We welcome the Commissioner’s recommendations and we will continue with our plans for our ongoing improvement to Children’s Services in Sefton. We would like to thank the Commissioner for the help, support and advice he has given us.
“We are already making significant changes to our service following our OFSTED rating in May, and in fact a number of those were made in the period between the Commissioner submitting his report, and it being published today.
“The Commissioner’s recommendations show that Sefton has the capacity and capability to deliver services through our new Executive Director of Children’s Services and his new team.
“Our focus now is getting on with the job, and we are fully committed to making the improvements necessary so that children in Sefton are safe, protected and inspired to reach their full potential.
“We look forward to the appointment of a new commissioner who will offer support, guidance and challenge and ultimately work with us to deliver the best outcomes for children, young people and families in Sefton.”
Executive director for children’s services, Martin Birch, who was brought in to make changes following the damning inspection, said he was “pleased” with the commissioner's assessment of progress to date and there had been a “great start” in efforts to transform the service.
Mr Birch said: “Whilst I acknowledge that Sefton Council Children’s Services still has far to go on its improvement journey, I was pleased to read that the Commissioner believes that the Council has made a good start to its improvement work through new leadership arrangements, readiness to accept support, and the start of a cultural shift.
“Our staff are our most important asset, and I’m really pleased to hear that they are now feeling reassured, with a renewed sense of optimism.”
Mr Birch said staff reported managers being more approachable and responsive, bringing about a more positive working environment.
He added: “This is clearly a great start to our improvement journey, and we are working very hard to ensure that we provide the very best services to children and families moving forward.
“I am confident that together with our wonderful workforce, and our supportive partners, we can deliver our Improvement Plan, and turn Children’s Services in Sefton around.”
On the issue of cultural change, however, leader of Sefton Liberal Democrats, Cllr John Pugh, expressed some scepticism.
Cllr Pugh said: “There is an absolutely imperative moral requirement across the Council not to let children in need down and every councillor has a responsibility here.
“However, the ‘cultural shift strategy’ that the Commissioner calls for does not come naturally to a Council that often functions like a one party state — where all criticism and comment is seen through a partisan lens.
“It’s infinitely more important now to get things right than apportion blame for past deficiencies.”
Sefton Council declined to respond to Cllr Pugh’s comments.
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