2017
Children’s Services Review Update
Message
from Jo Olsson | Interim Chief Officer for Childrens Services
Dear Colleague,
You may have heard
references to a mock-inspection in Children’s Services, planned to take place
sometime in 2017, and I can now confirm that we have commissioned a team of
very experienced ex and current Ofsted inspectors to review Devon County
Council’s progress in the arrangements for children in need, child protection,
looked after children and care leavers. The service review will mirror
key aspects of the SIF inspection methodology.
We will get a rigorous
and thorough external challenge which will serve as a key milestone, testing
the progress we have made since SIF 2015 and testing the accuracy of our recent
self-assessment. Whilst the review is of Council services, it will include a
focus on partnership working to deliver the outcomes required for children and
young people.
Like an Ofsted
inspection, the service review will require us to audit a sample of case files
before the reviewers arrive onsite and many of you may be involved in this
process.
The reviewers will spend
five days in Devon, with teams in all four of our localities, tracking and
sampling cases, examining the quality of our work and the difference we’re
making to the lives of children and families.
The review team have
identified the 10 cases to be audited prior to the service reviewers coming
onsite. We have a week to audit the cases. We may request
information from you regarding these cases and I would be very grateful if you
could support us by responding promptly to any such requests.
In the context of the
2015 inadequate judgement for our LSCB, we have asked the reviewers to assess
our partnership. The service reviewers will use the audits to develop
their Key Lines of Enquiry (KLOE) which they will explore during the onsite
week.
This is a great
opportunity for us to show the progress we’re making, to highlight some really
strong practice, and for the reviewers to see us as we are - focused,
purposeful and committed to transforming the lives of Devon’s most vulnerable
children. Thank you for your support and I look forward to sharing the
learning that emerges from this Service Review with you.
Kind Regards,
Jo Olsson
| Interim Chief Officer for Childrens Services
Devon County Council, County Hall, Room 140, Topsham Road, Exeter, Devon EX2
4QD
Contact | 01392 383212
PA: Hannah Washington-Jones Email: hannah.washington-jo@devon.gov.uk
| 
