'Limited progress' on improving Herefordshire children's services

Families are calling for a public inquiry into the county's children's services

Herefordshire Council "does not have the capability or capacity" to improve children's services in a reasonable timeframe, according to a report.

The authority has had two years of government help and millions of pounds of additional funding.

The report from a government-appointed commissioner, Eleanor Brazil, said the county was "just beginning to see some slight improvements" after a legacy of poor service.

Herefordshire Council said it recognised there was still work to be done.

Ms Brazil has been working with the council for more than a year after Ofsted rated the service inadequate in all areas.

Her report, released on Wednesday, said the issues in children's services were "long-standing", with little confidence any improvement would be sustained.

"The impact on too many children and families of a legacy of poor practice, staff turnover, high numbers of agency staff and inconsistent leadership has been very negative," the report said.

Eleanor Brazil was appointed by the Department for Education

However, Ms Brazil said, children's services will remain the responsibility of the local authority, with additional expertise alongside the commissioner and an improvement advisor.

This will remain for a period of six months to allow the council to demonstrate that it can deliver change.

The commissioner's recommendations include strengthening leadership within the service, resolving historic complaints and exploring options for a long-term partnership with another local authority to deliver improvements.

Pace of change

Herefordshire's director for children and young people, Darryl Freeman, said the commissioner had recognised improvements being made.

“But we accept the Commissioner’s view that the pace of change needs to quicken, and share her assessment of the work we still need to do to deliver the service that we all want to see," he said.

Councillor Ivan Powell, cabinet member for children and young people, added: “We know that there is much work still to do but I believe it is absolutely right that responsibility for delivering these improvements remains with the council.”

Parents said they didn’t feel they’d been listened to.

Ms Brazil spoke to just one family herself when she was compiling her report.

A panel working for her spoke to another 20, out of 410 cases currently on the authority's files.

The council said that a small number of parents who did not attend the panel had also written to her.

It said she "asked for and received briefings from the director of children’s services so they could be responded to".

'Still failing families'

One parent told the BBC: "Good people leave. It’s such a toxic environment that we end up losing the good staff and the not-so-good staff stay on.

"I think a public inquiry is the only way forward.

"They’re still failing families. They’re still being treated appallingly."

Another mother added: "There hasn’t been any improvement. It’s getting worse and worse."

The council's Children's Services were condemned by a high court judge in 2021

Ofsted inspectors found the service was not improving fast enough, and one of the biggest problems was the turnover of staff.

Recruitment remains a major issue for the authority, with 93 vacancies for social workers leaving a need for more costly agency staff.

The department’s annual budget has risen from £30.6m in 2020 to £50.8m this year.

Ofsted said three-quarters of children in care had experienced changes of social worker in the last year.

The commissioner highlighted staffing as a major problem in her first review in March 2023.

Parents feel their concerns have been ignored

The families

Alice (not her real name) accepts that she needed help from social services in the past.

"Yes I made mistakes, but I didn’t harm my children. I feel like I’m not their mum anymore, they’ve stolen my children for good.

"It’s hard to find the words to describe how they treat me – they make me feel like I’m a monster.

"There’s no justice, no consistency, no honesty," she said.

Herefordshire Council said it couldn't comment on individual cases, but that they were aware of Alice's concerns.

Parent "Alice" said she was made to feel like a "monster" by children's services

Vicky, whose name has also been changed, left her partner after being abused by him. He has custody of their children.

The family has been known to children's services since 2007 through concerns of neglect, physical, sexual and emotional abuse.

"My deepest regret is walking away and leaving my children there," she said.

"I thought social services would act. They just keep saying there’s nothing they can do."

"In one month, social services were contacted by paramedics, the police and me. They do nothing."