Sheffield child care services to boost staffing

MORE frontline staff are to be recruited by Sheffield’s social services as a result of a review ordered in the wake of the Baby P case. All 272 cases on the council’s have been closely examined, with only two found to be needing further action, even though no child was in danger.

All newly qualified staff will also in future work very closely with experienced team members to make sure all children are safeguarded, and there will be further training for all social workers.

And, as a result of the review, the council will work with partners such as the police and health services to make sure they work as closely as possible together.

Overall the internal review carried out over the last 18 months found there had been great improvements with significant areas of good quality work identified.

But it also showed more needs to be done to bring the service up to the high standards set by the city.

Coun Andrew Sangar, Cabinet member for children’s services, said: “There is obviously no room for complacency when it comes to keeping our children safe.

“That’s why the council took it upon itself to undertake an internal review in light of the Baby Peter case. The review found that whilst there is a lot of good work being done by our social services staff, more needs to be done. But we are determined to deliver the improvements that are needed as a matter of urgency. As far as I’m concerned Sheffield must set the highest possible standards,” he added.

Jayne Ludlam, the council’s director of children and young people’s specialist services, said: “Not only do we need to address the weaknesses that have been identified by our own internal review but we also need to build on the strengths we already have.

“There have been significant improvements in our safeguarding procedures and we have already taken a proactive look at all our cases. We set a very high standard here in Sheffield and the actions from this review will reflect this and improve the service further.

“We know we have a committed, hard working, skilled staff group that are working in a difficult role. Our social workers work extremely hard in what is often a quite thankless task and we appreciate every effort they give us.

“This review in no way seeks to undermine this relationship. Our aim is to make sure we can improve the service further to achieve positive outcomes for the children and families in Sheffield.” The report will be debated by a council scrutiny committee next month.

Baby Peter was a 17-month old boy who died in London after suffering more than 50 injuries over an eight month period, during which he was repeatedly seen by social services.