Bridgend: Improvements made after Logan Mwangi murder

Improvements have been made at Bridgend children's services after a five year old boy was murdered by his family, inspectors have said.

However, Care Inspectorate Wales says further improvements are still needed at Bridgend County Borough Council.

Logan Mwangi was murdered by his mother, step-father and a teenage boy in July 2021.

His body was dumped in the River Ogmore close to his home in Sarn.

His mother Angharad Williamson, step-father John Cole and Craig Mulligan were given life sentences for his murder.

The latest improvement check by Care Inspectorate Wales was carried out between 21 and 24 November, with a report published on Wednesday, 15 February.

It is a follow-up to a performance evaluation that took place in May 2022.

The report in May highlighted pressures including high levels of demand and not enough social workers.

Now, inspectors say Bridgend council has taken "significant action" to address the issues of recruitment and retention, but they remain a "significant pressure" on the local authority.

High numbers of agency staff are being used in frontline services as well as some management posts.

"The workforce position remains fragile" the report says, which is a "significant risk" to the local authority "achieving and sustaining improvements".

It adds that recruitment, retention and workforce wellbeing continued to be priority areas for the council and action had been taken to address the issues through marketing campaigns and international recruitment.

It says Bridgend has an increased number of children who are on the child protection register, children in care and children who need care and support.

There was a 32% increase in the number of referrals received between April and August 2022 compared with the same period in 2021.

"The impact of the increased demand has been felt across children's social services and early help services," the report said.

It also says the high demand comes with an increased complexity in the needs of children and their families which Bridgend council is "responding to within the context of increasing financial pressures".

Inspectors said that Bridgend council must continue to work towards ensuring a "sufficient and sustainable" workforce.

They also said improvements to identifying and responding to child exploitation should be a "matter of urgency" and while the number of young people on the waiting list for the Youth Emotional Wellbeing Team had decreased, there were still 76 young people waiting compared with 119 in April 2022.

The inspectors added: "In May 2022, we identified a number of areas requiring improvements and where we had significant concerns.

"At this improvement check we found improvements have been made, however further actions are needed to ensure the well-being of children and families is consistently promoted and protected.

"It remains that the local authority's children's services require improvement."

Councillor Jane Gebbie, the cabinet member for social services and early help in Bridgend council, said that the improvement check was "highly encouraging" and demonstrated an ongoing commitment towards strengthening children's services.

"We will continue to work with CIW to introduce further improvements across the service and to ensure that we promote and protect the wellbeing of children and families," she said.