Staff turnover fears despite improved child service

A council's children services have been praised for improvements, but inspectorate Ofsted has warned staff turnover has "hindered progress".

Medway Council has made changes since being rated "good" in 2023, the education watchdog said after a recent reinspection, but added that they still needed time to embed.

Concerns were raised that the positive steps made were on shaky ground because of ever-increasing demands for the service and the high turnover of staff and retention struggles.

Adam Price, Medway Council's portfolio holder for children's services, said the service had been on a "significant improvement journey in recent years".

The visit, conducted in April, was to look specifically at the authority's performance in relation to children in need or the subject of a child protection plan, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

The inspectors said improvements had been made to the support given to children, particularly to 16 or 17 year olds at risk of homelessness, and there was a focus on developing the response to disabled children and teenagers at risk of exploitation.

Inconsistency of the service was also raised as an issue, with inspectors saying quality and impact of assessments, plans, interventions, management oversight and supervision could vary widely.

A letter from the inspectorate to the council read: "Recent turnover of staff threatens to undermine the tenuous progress made.

"The stability and experience of the workforce continue to be the most significant and stubborn challenges and barriers to progress."

Ofsted also recognised the leaders of the service understood the issues it was facing and the key areas for development.

The service was previously rated "inadequate" in 2019.

Mark Joy, shadow cabinet member for children's services, also welcomed the progress but said it remained "fragile given the continued challenges around permanence within the service".

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