Last week I briefly noted the imminent re-inspection of Children’s Social Care in Knowsley. Over the last 18 months, I am satisfied as Cabinet Member that we have been progressing well in our improvement plan. In addition, we have participated in a range of reviews and assessments to ensure external views of our required improvements. A summary of the feedback received from these reviews is below:
· We have been highlighted as best practice for the introduction of mobile technology to social care practitioners.
· Progress made in the use of audits, particularly around the use of a single audit tool, engaging social workers in audit and written guidance on auditing.
· Permanence planning is now more robust, the adoption tracking tool is providing better management oversight and leading to significant improvement in the timeliness of permanence planning.
· Significant improvement in the Multi-Agency Service Hub (MASH). The knowledge and judgement of call advisors in the MASH is impressive, systems are good and well organised, strategy meetings are effective and well attended, quality of contacts and information gathering is good, quality of analysis and use of case histories to inform decisions is good, strong evidence that staff morale is good and staff receive regular quality supervision.
· Evidence of positive improvements in leadership, supervision, communication and morale.
· The Knowsley Safeguarding Children’s Board has developed the sexually harmful behaviours protocol as a response to risk in the borough, as well as the multi-agency missing protocol.
We will have only 24 hours notification of the four-week inspection once the initial phone call from OfSTED is received. As discussed last week, my colleague Paul Boyce (Knowsley Director of Children’s Services) and I are looking forward to the inspection and the chance to finally demonstrate our improvements to inspectors.
2016 will be a big year for elections in Knowsley Council. The vote on May 5th this year will be an all-out election meaning every Council seat is up for election. It simple terms, every resident registered to vote will have 3 votes this year. Please note this and remind your family, friends, work colleagues and neighbours. Knowsley has also reduced the number of Council wards from 21 to 15 in time for the 2016 election. This year’s vote will therefore be undertaken using the new ward boundaries with the outcome being the election of 45 Councillors instead of the 63 we have had for many years now. This will lead to increased responsibility for those Councillors that are elected but it is right the elected representatives of the council play their part in helping to reduce the impact of austerity and cuts to the council budget.
A reminder also about the changes to voter registration introduced this year by the Tory government called Individual Electoral Registration (IER). You now need to register to vote individually, rather than as a household. The new system also means that you can register to vote online.
IER has been introduced nationally to help tackle electoral fraud and enable online registration, which will make it easier and more convenient for you to register to vote. Failing to register can also impact on applications for mortgages or mobile phones, since credit reference agencies use the register to validate applications.
If you did not register under IER, you will have been removed from the 1 December 2015 Electoral Register. However, please follow the link below for further information and a route to advice and guidance with the council. If you are not a Knowsley resident reading this Blog please go to your local council website for further information. It is your democratic right to vote – don’t lose it!
http://www.knowsley.gov.uk/your-council/voting-and-elections.aspx
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