Medway Labour and Cooperative Group today welcomed the release of the latest Ofsted report on Medway’s Children’s Social Care but pointed to continuing concerns. The latest Ofsted report, focusing on the 0 – 25 Service for Disabled Children, was based on a visit made by Ofsted in September. The inspection team found that progress had been made by senior leaders and social workers since the disastrous inspection in 2019 which resulted in Medway’s ‘Inadequate’ judgement. Top managers know the service well and know what needs to be improved. However, they are still hampered by problems recruiting social workers, including social workers with the right mix of skills, and by a lack of community facilities which causes delay in young people receiving the help they need promptly. Some young people do not have the support they need and there may be delays in making sure they are given a clear transition to adult services. The report also identifies, as other reports into Medway’s children’s services do, that the health service does not always provide the support it should. All this has resulted in inconsistent practice with too much variability in the quality of reports, plans and assessments.
Cllr Pat Cooper, Medway Labour and Cooperative Member of Medway Council’s Children and Young People Overview and Scrutiny Committee said today, ‘The quality of services for Medway’s young people, particularly the disabled children in the 0 -25 service, should never have become poor, as it did under this Conservative administration. Senior leaders, social workers and all who work in the service have worked really hard to improve the lives of our young people and I pay tribute to them. However, there are still vital issues to resolve, and much more progress to be made before we can be sure that our young people are properly looked after. Medway Labour will continue to hold Medway’s Conservative Council to account for their shocking failures. It is particularly galling to see Ofsted criticise the lack of community facilities when the council closed the Aut Even respite facility only a few years ago.’
Cllr Clive Johnson, Medway Labour and Cooperative Shadow Cabinet Member for Children’s Services, said today, ‘Medway is suffering from too many years of Conservative maladministration. Nationally, the Conservative government has failed to set up a workforce strategy that will meet our country’s needs. We see that in so many areas: nurses, GPs, educational psychologists but, importantly, we see it in the shortage of social workers whose work lies at the heart of services for our most vulnerable children, here in Medway. This is a devastating failure to provide the staffing resources which our residents deserve and shows how completely out of touch they are. It also results in unnecessarily increased costs for expensive agency staff, so Medway residents lose out in all sorts of ways. Medway deserves so much better than this failed Conservative administration.’
ENDS
For further information: Cllr Clive Johnson 07802872592 clive.johnson@medway.gov.uk