North East Lincolnshire children’s services ‘improve but problems remain’

Children’s services in North East Lincolnshire have improved but problems still remain, an inspection has found.

A new report said too many children in care were still waiting for plans about their future to be sorted out, and many had to deal with multiple changes in social workers.

North East Lincolnshire Council said it was “committed to improving the service”.

The Ofsted inspection in January focused on planning and achieving permanence for children in care.

The interim progress report said since the last inspection the service had “improved for some children”.

However it added, “a legacy of historic poor planning, lack of management direction for social workers, and previous multiple changes of social worker continue to have a negative impact for some children where their permanence plans remain unclear.”

The report said there had been a “reunification team” set up, which meant that children who were leaving care to return to their families or other guardians were “well supported”.

Inspectors said a new director of children’s services had been appointed along with other managers, but the report added a previous high turnover of staff had “impacted on social workers’ ability to develop trusting relationships with children and their families and understand their needs”.

“Clearly there is more work to do but we remain committed to improving the service and support that we offer our most vulnerable children and families,” the spokesperson said.

“It’s positive to see the inspectors recognising that our numbers of children in care are reducing in a safe way, and that more children are being returned to their families where safe to do so.”