Legal News

Dudley Council in the West Midlands has said that the number of children being looked after in care has fallen by nearly 9% in Dudley over the last two years, according to new figures.

The council said that caseloads for social workers in the borough have also eased – and the number leaving or moving jobs has reduced significantly as a result.

Dudley Council has released the figures after saying it is continuing to make good progress in improving social care services for children and young people in the borough.

In January 2016, the council’s children’s services were rated as “inadequate” following a visit by inspectors from government watchdog Ofsted.

However, the council was praised for making “positive progress” in a number of key areas after a follow up monitoring visit by inspectors in February 2016.

A key areas identified for improvement by the council was to reduce the number of children in care.

The figures show there were a total of 674 children being looked after at the end of the current financial year – nearly 9% down on the statistics for 2014-2015, when there were 737 children in the council’s care.

Easing the workload on social workers under pressure was also identified as a key priority.

In April 2016, the council had 65 workers handling more than 21 cases at a time, according to the figures. However, by April this year, that figure had dropped by 20%, with only 52 workers having a caseload of 21 or more.

Currently only six social workers have caseloads of 26 or more, meaning 93% of social workers in Dudley now have a caseload of less than 26, with nearly half (47.5%) having a caseload below 21.

The turnover rate – an indicator of social workers leaving or switching jobs – has dropped in Dudley from 16.4% in April 2016 to just 2.4% in April 2017.

Dudley Council’s Strategic Director for people, Tony Oakman, said:

“The figures are a very encouraging sign that we are continuing to move in the right direction.

“We recognise, of course, that there is still a long way to go – and we will always strive to continue making improvements to the service we offer.

“If social workers have less cases to deal with, they are likely to be under less pressure and can put more time into each one.

“We want to reduce the number of children and young people being taken into care for their wellbeing and safety, where it is safe and appropriate to do so – our aim is that all children living in Dudley grow up safe, healthy and in a loving environment.”

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