Children’s Services ‘Well Placed To Improve’

Flintshire Council is inconsistent in its social services for children but the signs are that the authority is well placed to improve, according to a review undertaken by the Social Services Inspectorate for Wales.

Inspectors found that there was a need for greater consistency in the overall quality of assessments which were undertaken on children and their carers.

There were gaps in case recording and there was a need for closer management oversight of work being undertaken. Waiting times for some specialist services were too long.

However, there was evidence of some effective social work support with emphasis on trying to keep children within their own families and a commitment to working together with other professionals to achieve positive outcomes for children. Young people in care feel involved in decisions taken about their lives.

There is a commitment from the authority to strive for continuous improvement and recognition that children and young people are a corporate responsibility. The authority demonstrates that it can improve services by listening and learning from complaints made by service users.

The authority still needs to embed a performance management culture and ensure that management information is available to all staff.

Flintshire County Council has accepted the concerns raised in the report and has already taken action to make improvements.