Positive inspection report for children's services

Cumbria’s Children’s Services have made sustained improvements and are now working well, according the latest inspection report from Ofsted published last week.

Inspectors visited the council for a two-day short, focussed, inspection during August. They looked at how the service managed referrals, the effectiveness of child protection work, the approach to helping families at the earliest opportunity and how we respond to 16- and 17-year-olds who present as homeless.

+ READ THE REPORT

Important reminder: handling complaints 

Further to recent final decision notices received from the Local Government & Social Care Ombudsman where fault has been found with the Council’s handling of complaints, all colleagues are asked to remind themselves of the actions required when receiving and handling complaints. 

+ READ GUIDANCE

Would you like to show an AD your service?

Work shadowing gives the People Assistant Directors (ADs) an opportunity to see first-hand the great work that you do. It also provides you with an opportunity to share your insight directly with your AD, and get their views on the challenges that you and your team face.

The People Assistant Directors are:

• Fiona Musgrave, Assistant Director Integration & Partnerships
• Colin Cox, Director Public Health
• Cath Whalley, Assistant Director Adults
• Lynn Berryman, Assistant Director Children & Young People
• Dan Barton, Assistant Director Education & Skills
• Pam Duke, Assistant Director Provider Services
• Jo Atkinson, Assistant Director Strategic Commissioning

Let us know if you would like to invite any of the above to shadow you or your team. They can visit you for a couple of hours, half a day or you might want to invite them with you to attend a special event or meeting. Use the link below to share your invite with the Communications Team, please specify who you would like to invite and confirm your preferred date and time (if you have one).

+ INVITE YOUR AD TO SHADOW YOU OR YOUR TEAM

Register for Smoking in Pregnancy summit

Cumbria County Council in conjunction with North Cumbria Health and Care are holding a Smoking in Pregnancy Summit. The aim of the summit is to see how we can work together to tackle the issue looking at preconception, pregnancy, early years and smokefree environments. The summit is for all professionals and members of the public who come into contact with pregnant women and families.

+ CLICK FOR DETAILS / REGISTER VIA EMAIL

Focus Family are 1st in the country

The Focus Family team is celebrating after becoming the first Local Authority area in the country to have secured all payment-by-results claims allocated to the county.

The team had until March 2020 to secure the funding, but this has been achieved in record time.

+ READ MORE ABOUT THE FOCUS FAMILY TEAM

Virtual reality social work training pilot

The Organisational and Workforce Training Team will be piloting the Cornerstone VR Project to enhance Social Work Practitioner learning.

Through the use of 360° immersive films and Virtual Reality headsets, the training and recruitment model for adoption and fostering allows parents and carers to experience life from the perspective of the child. This unique approach to tackling issues around children’s social care is ground-breaking and offers a different way to understand the impact of attachment and trauma – through the eyes of the child.

 + If you’re interested in finding out more about this project contact lauren.strong@cumbria.gov.uk

‘Warm Homes Eden’ launches to tackle fuel poverty

A new project to tackle fuel poverty in Eden has been developed by health and council officers working together. Warm Homes Eden is a new project in collaboration with Eden District Council, Cumbria County Council, Electricity North West and the NHS through the Eden Integrated Care Community.

This new service allows professionals to refer people, who may be struggling to heat their home, to Cumbria Action For Sustainability (CAFS) for an assessment and advice and potential support to improve their situation.

+ FIND OUT MORE 

'Feed & Read' combines books and buffets for west Cumbrian kids

Over the summer around 720 children attended 'feed & read' sessions at Maryport, Moorclose and Workington libraries. Aimed at addressing issues around food poverty in the local area, the sessions ran over the 6 weeks of the school holidays and provided a healthy packed lunch and opportunities to pick up a book as well as take part in sports, arts, crafts and healthy walks with trained leaders around the park and local area.

+ MORE INFO VALERIE.AYRE@CUMBRIA.GOV.UK

100 years old? Don't miss out on your birthday card from HM The Queen!

The Lord-Lieutenant is keen to encourage more people across Cumbria to request a birthday or anniversary card from HM The Queen. Cards are sent to those celebrating their 100th and 105th birthday and every year thereafter, and to those celebrating their diamond wedding (60th), 65th, 70th wedding anniversaries and every year thereafter. 

Greeting cards are sent direct from HM The Queen. Although the Lieutenancy Office can arrange for HM Lord-Lieutenant to personally present the card. To discuss this further please contact Suzannah Walker on 01228 221722.

If you know someone who has received a card and would be happy to feature in People News, please email bridget.slee@cumbria.gov.uk

+ MORE INFO

£50k for cervical cancer screening promotion

The Public Health team has been successful in a funding bid to the Northern Cancer Alliance. The Alliance will provide £50k to support work to promote uptake of cervical screening.

While Cumbria has a relatively good overall uptake of cervical screening, it’s still too low in some areas and particularly in some key population groups, such as those with learning disabilities.

The team will be working closely with the third sector and primary care to target this work appropriately and we’re really hopeful of some good results in raising uptake with careful targeting rather than through generic campaigns.

+ MORE INFO CLAIRE.KING@CUMBRIA.GOV.UK

Cumbria Pupil Premium Plus Awards offer local schools the chance to win up to £2,500

Cumbria County Council's Virtual School is inviting local schools to enter The Cumbria Pupil Premium Plus Awards and be in with the chance of winning a number of cash prizes, including £2,500 for winning schools in north, west and south Cumbria.

The Cumbria Pupil Premium Plus Awards is a new initiative in Cumbria and has launched in a bid to encourage the county’s schools to share how they are using Pupil Premium Plus (PP+) grants.

+ FIND OUT MORE

15% discount for CCC employees on Community Learning & Skills courses

There have been some exciting new developments with Community Learning and Skills. There is a brand new website, and hopefully by now you will have received a brochure through your door promoting all of the amazing courses that are available. What's really great, is that as an employee of the county council you can now benefit from an exclusive 15% discount on many of the courses on offer!

+ VISIT WEBSITE

Safeguarding Fortnight starts today

Cumbria Safeguarding Children Fortnight is taking place from 9th to 20th September 2019. We will be holding a series of learning events, across the Cumbria, to highlight that safeguarding is not just being about child protection intervention, but also has a place in the wider community.

The fortnight will be used to share information and engage with practitioners about the new partnership arrangement for safeguarding children.

+ READ MORE

Carleton Clinic rehab unit to close

The delivery of rehabilitation services for people with complex mental health needs is changing as part of plans to improve the quality of mental health services for patients in north Cumbria.

A recent review of the rehabilitation pathway has identified that changes are required to ensure the service is linked to a large well established pathway that links to best practice guidelines which is currently provided by Northumberland, Tyne & Wear NHS Foundation Trust.
This will enable people living in north Cumbria to have access to a broader range of rehabilitation services depending on their need including community based services in north Cumbria right through to more specialist high dependency and continuing complex care.

The existing rehabilitation service in Cumbria is a currently a standalone service that is provided at the Acorn Unit at Carleton Clinic a 16 bed rehabilitation unit for men. This will now close to admissions while the patients are supported onto the new pathway. Patients currently receiving care at the Acorn Centre will move onto the new pathway by the end of October 2019 following an assessment based on their individual needs.

Slippers on for Talking Tarn fund raiser

Young people participating in the National Citizen Service with Inspira have been raising money to support the council's 'sloppy slipper' campaign. Ill fitting slippers are one of the main causes of falls among elderly people. The campaign offers free replacements.

The young people raised money by going round Talkin Tarn in their slippers, going into town with collection boxes and talking to residents about their project.

They then joined in with a coffee afternoon at Upperby Court to talk to the residents about their project and why they picked falls prevention. Young people gathered shoe sizes and would like to return to Upperby Court once the slippers have been delivered. Thanks!

+ MORE ABOUT THE NATIONAL CITIZENSHIP SERVICE

Famous faces to visit Carlisle for a fantastic programme of events

The Borderlines Book Festival returns to Carlisle from Thursday 26th September to Tuesday 8th October, 2019.

Events will take place across Carlisle, in the Crown & Mitre Hotel, Carlisle Library, Cakes and Ale Café, Tullie House Museum, the Tithe Barn, and Stanwix Arts Theatre. The festival welcomes well-known names like BBC Breakfast presenter Louise Minchin, former Liberal Democrat Leader Tim Farron and author Razwan Ul-Haq.

Tickets to this brilliant event are now available and can be purchased online (see link below) or at Bookends Bookshop, Castle Street, Carlisle. For more information visit the website.

+ VISIT BORDERLINES BOOK FESTIVAL WEBSITE

PAT Testing - Cumbria House starting today

The testing of electrical equipment, or Portable Appliance Testing (PAT), is important to ensure that the equipment that we use is safe and in good condition. That's why the Property Team are continuing to run a schedule of equipment testing across the county. When a PAT scheme is being carried out in your workplace, it is important that you bring in any electrical equipment you have. Please see below list of up and coming dates:

• Cumbria House - 9th-20th September 2019
• Parkhouse Building - 23rd September-4th October 2019

Please ensure that laptops and phones are fully charged before handing in chargers for testing. If you are unable to attend then please advise your manager so they can arrange for you to attend another session or make arrangements for the equipment to be tested on your behalf.

Health, safety and wellbeing events this week

The roll out of staff Health and Safety events continues with the dates below. Pop along to any of the below events to help us improve Health and Safety in the workplace.

• County Hall, Kendal - 12th September 2019, 9am-12pm
• Bridge Mills, Kendal - 12th September 2019, 1pm-4pm
• Cumbria House, Carlisle - 25th September 2019, 9am-12pm
• Parkhouse, Carlisle - 25th September 2019, 1pm-4pm 

+ READ THE LATEST HEALTH AND SAFETY MESSAGE OF THE MONTH

LGPS Pension Surgeries

Towards the end of the year Your Pension Service will start to hold a series of pension surgeries across Cumbria. Staff from Your Pension Service will be available for you to speak to regarding your LGPS pension queries or if you want some information about joining the scheme.

You can book an appointment at any of the sessions listed below:

- Barrow Borough Council, The Forum, The Ante Room, 28 Duke Street, Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria LA14 1HH - 03 Oct 2019
- Cumbria County Council, Conference Room A, Cumbria House, 117 Botchergate, Carlisle CA1 1RD - 28 Oct 2019
- South Lakes District Council, Bindloss Room, Kendal Town Hall, Kendal, Highgate LA9 4DL - 05 Feb 2020
- Copeland Borough Council, Bainbridge Room, The Copeland Centre, Catherine Centre, Whitehaven CA28 7SJ - 19 Mar 2020

+ BOOK YOUR APPOINTMENT