Havering councillors at the monthly full council meeting, on 25th July. (Credit: LDRS)
(Written by Local Democracy Reporter, Sebastian Mann)
A damning report by the watchdog in February judged three out of four key areas to be “inadequate”.
The council has agreed to introduce a raft of changes, including a £17m boost to its children’s services over the next financial year.
On top of a major review of each department, Havering has also appointed an adviser from the Department for Education and set up a ‘practice improvement board’ to independently monitor progress.
According to a council report published this week, the lengthy plan has been accepted by the government.
The scheme will cost the council around £4.3m, at a time when it is looking to make major cuts to plug a £32.5m budget gap.
During the December inspection, inspectors found too many children were waiting “too long” to access the services they needed.
They said the services – rated ‘good’ in 2018 – had deteriorated and ordered the authority to improve.
Their inspection focused on children in care, children who need help and protection, and the impact of social workers. All three were deemed inadequate.
Its treatment of children leaving care was viewed more charitably, but will “require improvement to be good”.
They published their findings in February, writing that “poor management, oversight and supervision across social work teams, coupled with a weak reviewing service have led to widespread drift and delay for too many children”.
Havering Council apologised and pointed to social workers having “complex and higher than average caseloads due to the growth in demand for services” as an explanation why.
Oscar Ford, the cabinet member for children and young people, said Havering’s child population was the fourth fastest growing in the country and had undergone a “significant increase” in recent years.
He said: “This has led to a significant rise in demand for our services with no increase in government funding. That is coupled with a chronic shortage of social workers nationally, and difficulties attracting new staff locally.”
The plan was backed by the cabinet on 17th July, and was signed off at a full council meeting on Wednesday (24th).
Though it has just been formally approved, the council began implementing many of the changes in March.
Councils have a statutory obligation to respond promptly to Ofsted reports and risk government intervention if they fail to do so.
Havering will be monitored by Ofsted to ensure it improves. That will include quarterly visits and a full reinspection in 2026.
The next inspection has been scheduled for October.
