We work with children who, through no fault of their own, are at risk of harm, homelessness, or need to come into our care.
Children come into care for all sorts of reasons and from a diverse range of backgrounds and circumstances.
Sometimes it is because their family is having problems and cannot provide for the child’s needs, there has been a bereavement, or the child is at risk of harm, including abuse or neglect.
Ofsted inspect local authorities on what they do to keep children safe, and I want to update you on the work we’ve been doing since we were inspected last year.
This inspection looks at how we look after children who are at risk of harm, children in care, and children who have been in care (care leavers).
The report last year conveyed a mixed picture across Suffolk.
Most importantly, it was found that children are kept safe in Suffolk and that children who are in our care thrive.
However, the inspectors highlighted some areas of weakness, which resulted in us being rated "Requires Improvement to be Good" overall.
These included inconsistencies with what happens when we are first contacted about children and young people, and the quality and support to children aged 16 and 17 who become homeless.
It also found that our care leavers were not consistently aware of the support that is available to them.
Since then, we have been working hard to make changes and improve our services for our children and families.
Our first steps have been to lay the groundwork by getting the right people into the right roles and making changes to the way we work.
We now have a stronger, resilient Leadership Team, with a new Executive Director of Children and Young People’s Services and new service directors leading on Social Care and Early Help, as well as Education, SEND, and inclusion.
We have a new Strengthening Services for Children and Families in Suffolk Board, which brings together partners from police, health, schools, and parent carer organisations, such as Suffolk Foster Carers, to ensure we have strong oversight of improvements and changes that are happening.
One of the most important parts of this change is making sure that children and young people have their voice heard and that their needs, wishes, and concerns are listened to and acted upon.
Through this improvement journey, we are making sure that we continue to talk to and listen to our children and young people.
We have welcomed support from other councils so that we can learn from them and use tried and tested methods to improve experiences for our children, young people, and their families.
They have helped improve what happens when we are first contacted about a child or a family, and they are working with our staff to make sure that we are working in a way that is consistently good.
They have also offered recommendations to improve how we look after our care leavers.
We have worked with district and borough councils to strengthen our joint protocols to better support young people who present as homeless, making sure they get the help they need when they need it.
Last month, Ofsted visited us to focus on the progress of our ‘Front Door services’.
This was a welcome opportunity to check in and ensure that the steps we are taking are moving us in the right direction.
Their findings were very much as we anticipated at this stage in our improvement journey, and as with any significant transformation, we know this will take time.
The report, published last week, highlighted that children in Suffolk continue to be safe and have good outcomes.
Ofsted noted clear investment and support from the whole council, as well as high staff morale, a stable workforce, and strong peer and managerial support, maintaining consistency for families despite leadership changes.
Ofsted noted that leaders have ‘Strengthened Oversight’ of the service.
This was a key area for development in our last inspection and is now considered a strength.
Ofsted noted that work has begun on an ‘Integrated Front Door’ for the service, which will provide a single, central point of contact for all children’s social care and early help services.
This will not only make getting in touch easier for children, young people, and their families, but it will speed up decision-making and give us a fuller picture of the family, which will improve experiences and outcomes.
The focused visit has demonstrated that we know our service well; we know our strengths and where we are making good progress, but we also know where we need to improve, including more reliable monitoring systems to flag delays and support decision-making.
Greater consistency is also needed in professional curiosity, threshold decisions, and identifying patterns of concern in repeat requests for families.
The report recognises ‘early signs of improvement’.
We know there is more to do to ensure that improvements continue and are sustained to make sure every child in Suffolk has the right support when they need it.
Councillor Bobby Bennett is cabinet member for children and young people’s services
