Published: Friday, 17th April, 2009 4:00pm

Investigation finds no 'culture of bullying'

by Adam Hewitt

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SOCIAL workers WERE bullied in Reading's children's services department during its darkest days in 2007 and 2008 - but it was neither serious nor constant according to a report released this afternoon.

Council chiefs launched an investigation after social workers made allegations in the Chronicle and elsewhere about bullying in the department.

One member of staff told the Chronicle in January: "Staff are in fear for their jobs and won't speak out because if they do challenge heads of service they will be disciplined and could lose their job. So many staff have been disciplined over the past year - it is unbelievable. But senior managers won't take any responsibility, they just blame everyone else.

"Staff morale is at an all-time low. Children's services has been in difficulty for over two years with massive case loads, 70% of workers' time spent in front of the computer and not visiting children, staff leaving so lots of vacancies, a computer filing system that doesn't do its job, and a senior management team that only started sorting out these problems once Ofsted came in."

Michael Hake - a former Director of Social Services with no previous links to Reading - was appointed to carry out the investigation by the council's chief executive, Michael Coughlin.

He interviewed 38 current and former staff, and concluded that while some felt they were bullied, what happened did not actually amount to bullying.

Council spokesman Chris Branagan said: "It is accepted that some staff (and ex staff) felt that they experienced bullying behaviour. However, the examples given fell short of the definition of bullying contained within the council's own procedures which are based on Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (ACAS) good practice guidelines and agreed with trades unions."

Mr Hake's report says the upsetting behaviour did not happen "all the time".

He said that management shake-ups following the death of three-year-old Trae-Bleu Layne by methadone poisoning in October 2006 may have led to "a mismatch in expectations, misunderstandings, frictions and a measure of disengagement by some staff".

He said many of the allegations stemmed from a pressure to improve performance after this time until early 2008, after which things started to improve.

Mr Hake, who ran social services in Solihull for 18 years, said senior management behaviour was seen as remote and distant. He said junior staff were unhappy at the way they were questioned and how meetings were conducted - but that this fell short of bullying or harassment.

The report has been presented to Mr Coughlin, but not yet made public.

Mr Coughlin said: "This is a thorough report that I very much welcome. It contributes significantly to our understanding of the concerns reflected in the local media, but also confirms that these concerns were not the result of bullying by managers.

"However, the report should not make us complacent either. It points to an unhappy time during 2007 and the early part of 2008 when staff may not have felt as supported as they would have wished and I obviously regret that this was the case."

He said there have since been many positive changes, and pledged that protecting vulnerable children was at the heart of the council's role.

Councillors heard at last week's Cabinet meeting how recruiting social workers was still difficult, but that the department had improved and was hitting many more of its targets.

The Lib Dems put out a statement responding to the investigation report.

Cllr Kirsten Bayes, children's services spokeswoman, said: "It is clear that many staff and managers were under a great deal of pressure. Staff protecting children need good support, and proper management of their workloads. This clearly was not happening."

Lib Dem leader Gareth Epps added: "Recent inspections on this critical department agree - there needs to be a culture change in Reading. It's vital so we can attract and continue to retain the best quality staff available, to best ensure vulnerable children are cared for."