Reading Borough Council continues to be criticised by Ofsted for failing children amid a staffing turbulence

Reading Borough Council continues to fall short of Ofsted’s expectations and members of the Liberal Democrat party have called for Jan Gavin to stand down.

The department was placed into special measures in 2016 after Ofsted inspectors found a string of failings relating to the way it looks after vulnerable children.

Despite making small steps towards amending its struggles, the council continues to let young people down, Ofsted claims.

A statement from the Liberal Democrats reads: “Cllr Gavin refused to resign despite the political leadership failures cited in the report. Indeed, she said it was crucial that she stayed in post to lead the recovery of the failing service.

“According to the new report, cllr Gavin has not led a recovery, but a stagnation of progress. 

“There is serious concern about the continuing high turnover of staff and the lack of progress made on the outsourcing of children's services.

"Children and their families are not receiving the care that they need, when they need it most.”

The council continued to struggle with the workload of bring children’s services up to scratch after three senior managers walked out.

Cllr Ricky Duveen added: “I have no faith in the ability of cllr Gavin or the rest of the Labour administration team in Reading to run the vital services that our children in Reading need.”

Recruitment and the high cost of living were both cited as key challenges for the council to overcome, with dozens of children still waiting to be allocated with a social worker.

A council spokesman said: "While the latest Ofsted monitoring letter is disappointing we are confident that overall progress is being made with the improvement of Reading’s children’s services.

"Unfortunately, recruitment continues to be a challenge given the shortage of qualified social workers nationally and the high cost of living in the Reading area."

Cllr Gavin said: "It would have been so easy to resign at so many points along the improvement journey since summer 2016, to have walked away and spent more time doing other things I enjoy, but I am not by nature a quitter.

"Whilst I absolutely accept that the last monitoring visit to one part of the service was extremely disappointing. Ofsted recognised that the workforce environment continues to be unstable. Caseload pressures and numbers in the safeguarding teams are high.

"The inspectors saw a high rate of social worker and team manager turnover in the safeguarding teams, resulting in numerous changes of social worker for families and resulting in inconsistent case management and supervision for social workers.

"The inspectors did not find that any children were at immediate risk. The inspectors noted that that this turbulent workforce environment is undoubtedly an important factor in the weak standard of social work provided to children and families in these teams, where there are significant needs and child protection concerns.

"This is set against the very positive monitoring visit report we received only last November where Ofsted noted significant progress in the areas of the service they had visited on that occasion.

Things are improving, but improvements are slower than we hoped because recruitment of social workers is difficult, and more children are being referred to children’s services. The autumn Ofsted visit said our Single Front Door was safe and effective, that cases were being appropriately allocated and that no children were found to be unsafe.

"Ofsted also reported in a previous visit that we were developing a learning culture and that social workers were engaged and knew their families well. Our performance data across a wide range of indicators has improved considerably over the last year.

"We recognise that there is a huge amount of work still to be done, and indeed we told Ofsted what our challenges are, and where they would find some problems during their visit. Recruitment has been ongoing, and we have had success in employing permanent Heads of Service and all staff in some teams.

"However, recruiting into the long-term social care teams has been extremely challenging. We have upped the pay and market supplement, offered re-location and key-worker housing but this is in the context of a recognised national shortage of social workers, the cost of living, in particular the cost of housing in Reading is very high and social work in Reading is demanding.

"We are re-doubling our recruitment efforts in the coming months, this really is the key to driving through the improvements we have made in areas of the service with a more stable workforce.

"Everyone I have worked with in the service, from the Director downwards are working extremely hard and with a determination not to fail Reading’s children which should be applauded, we should all be getting behind them publicly and privately, rather than seeking to use vulnerable children as a political football.

"Since the initial Ofsted visit in 2016 the service is under constant scrutiny from the Independent Improvement Board, The Children’s Commissioner, the DfE and Ofsted. The new Children’s company due to be set up later this year is intended to bring certainty and focus on the key issues.

"That I haven’t been able to magic 20 or 30 qualified, experienced social workers who want to come and work in Reading out of the hat, or find millions of pounds to throw at the service or stop a rise in the number of children living in poverty in Reading, or find homes for an ever growing number of children that are homeless and living in B&B. is something I live with every day.

"I could take the Lib Dems more seriously if they made any effort at all to understand the service, the challenges it faces and the role of Lead for Children.

"I wonder Cllr Duveen, when did you last ask for a briefing from the Director about any aspect of Children’s Services, when did you last enquire about progress, attend a Parenting Panel or the Adult, Children and Education Committee. When did you last email me and ask any questions or show any interest in Children’s Services? 

"These are all privileges you have as Group Leader. Indeed, I would say they are your responsibility. I don’t think you ever have, instead you send a press release to the newspaper demanding that I resign, seeking to make cheap political points."