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Introduction

54.01  Sub-paragraph (d) of the Tribunal's terms of reference requires us ""to consider whether the relevant caring and investigative agencies discharged their functions appropriately and, in the case of the caring agencies, whether they are doing so now"". However, the format and composition of a Tribunal of Inquiry of this kind are not designed to enable it to carry out an audit of social work practice and that task was, in effect, assigned to Adrianne Jones' Examination Team on Child Care Procedures and Practice in North Wales shortly before we were appointed. Since then Adrianne Jones has considered, at our request, the written evidence supplied to this Tribunal by the successor authorities and we summarise her views upon it, given in oral and written evidence, in the next section of this chapter; but it would be inappropriate for us to attempt to traverse the same ground in detail.

  54.02  It is relevant also that the Welsh Office itself established the Adrianne Jones Report Implementation Group[886]; and the Social Services Inspectorate for Wales carried out an inspection in October 1997 to assess the progress made by the six North Wales Social Services Departments in implementing the recommendations of the Adrianne Jones Examination Team. The report on that inspection was issued in August 1998 and was based on the facts as they were over halfway through the Tribunal's hearings. In these circumstances we will confine our comments in this chapter, after referring to Adrianne Jones' evidence, to matters of specific continuing concern that are of particular relevance to the central purposes of our inquiry.

The responses of the successor authorities to Adrianne Jones

  54.03  The 41 recommendations in the Adrianne Jones' report covered 11 areas of concern, namely, strategic planning, child protection, child care planning, residential care, foster care, management, personnel and employment, staff development and training, inspection, complaints and children's rights. Much of the written evidence submitted by the six successor authorities to the Tribunal referred directly or indirectly to their responses to those recommendations; and Adrianne Jones told us that, in assessing the responses, she approached her task primarily from the perspective of keeping children safe.

  54.04  In her oral evidence Adrianne Jones said that there were two main and recurrent themes in the responses by way of explanation for any delays that had occurred in implementing her recommendations: these were lack of financial resources and pressure on staff time. All the written responses referred to the issue of finance for children's services in the context of enforced overall cuts in social services; despite having had to make reductions elsewhere, most of the authorities had allocated additional sums to the children's budget for specific purposes. All of them, however, spoke of identified needs that cannot be met in the current financial situation.

  54.05  The position in relation to overall staffing is less clear, although Flintshire's difficulties at the end of 1997 in filling senior positions[887] were both striking and highly perturbing. The evidence in general has been that the successor authorities have not found difficulty in recruiting new staff, except for residential care staff because of the poor pay structure and, possibly, the impact of this Tribunal's hearings. Exceptions to the favourable staff recruitment picture, however, were Anglesey, which referred to a shortage of staff with the necessary bi-lingual ability, and Gwynedd, which has found a dearth of experienced social workers. Wrexham too wrote of a lack of quality in applicants for managerial posts and field social workers at level three. As Adrianne Jones herself said, the lack of staff time is not attributable solely to financial constraints: it involves also questions of priorities and the experience and training of existing staff.

  54.06 One of Adrianne Jones' main recommendations[888] was that Directors of Social Services should ensure that there was one designated person with overall policy and service responsibility for children's services within each social services senior management team; and it was implicit that this "Children's Officer"[889] should be at Assistant Director level or the equivalent. This recommendation was intended to be part of a package designed to achieve "clarity of purpose, delegation and accountability".

  54.07  The response by the individual successor authorities has been outlined in Chapter 53. Each does now have such a designated person but there are considerable variations in the structures that have been adopted. Adrianne Jones' view is that they have borne the recommendation in mind but that she cannot say unequivocally that they have all achieved what she would like to see, namely, a very clean structure with the head of children's services sitting on the senior management team. The issues are whether the children's service manager is sufficiently senior to take responsibility for and influence what is happening at the most senior level and to have responsibility "at the strategic level" for developing children's services and providing resources so as to ensure that they match needs. We strongly endorse these views, which are of particular importance in relation to authorities with insufficient resources to permit the appointment of an exclusive Children's Services Manager as a member of the senior management team; and the paramount need is to ensure that appropriate priority is given to children's services.

  54.08  It is notable that, because of geographical considerations, Gwynedd has developed an Area structure of management[890], not dissimilar to the earlier Divisional structure adopted by the former Gwynedd between 1987 and 1992[891], which did not prove to be successful. The Arfon Area Director now carries "lead responsibility" for children's services but does not have line management responsibility for all those services and each Area Director carries responsibility for at least some aspects of them. Moreover, Gwynedd acknowledges that the work load of the Arfon Area Director is such that there is a need "to strengthen the management structure to allow her the capacity to address children's services issues appropriately".

  54.09  The Adrianne Jones report contained a number of recommendations for combined action by the successor authorities in the fields of child protection and residential care and the authorities have taken such action in relation to inspection on their own initiative. As we have said in the previous chapter, the North Wales Child Protection Forum, covering all six authorities and supporting the work of the Area Child Protection Committees, continues to exist and has replaced the former Co-ordinating Committee, which had similar purposes. Adrianne Jones' view was that there was a need also for a North Wales forum "for residential care managers (including the independent sector) to share information about good practice and consider specialist issues affecting their day to day work". The responses to the report indicate that there is wide support for the proposed North Wales Residential Forum and that draft plans for establishing it have reached a reasonably advanced stage. In her oral evidence, Adrianne Jones suggested that it should have a wider remit to encourage cross-boundary co-operation, such as the provision by one local authority of services to another, and to assist in the strategic planning of services; and part of the recommendation is that the Forum should have the support of the SSIW. One local authority suggested that the Forum should consider issues relating to accommodation for children and young people generally and not only the provision of residential care.

  54.10  There are now three inspection units covering different parts of North Wales and only Conwy has opted to establish its own inspection unit. However, in its responses to Adrianne Jones, Conwy welcomed the proposal (supported by the Association of Directors of Social Services) for the establishment of a National Unit as well as the introduction of "National Benchmark Standards, to be locally applied and discharged".

  54.11  There was a varied reaction by the other successor authorities to the idea of a National Unit for inspection but the general view is that inspection units should be locally based. There is wide support for two inspection units, covering North West and North East Wales, whether they be self-contained or parts of an overall North Wales Inspection Unit. It appears that there is a degree of co-operation at present between Conwy's inspection unit and the Gwynedd unit that provides inspection services for Anglesey but we have not been persuaded that these separate units are preferable to a joint North West Wales inspection unit covering all three of the areas (in Conwy there were 101 residential establishments to be inspected and in Gwynedd and Anglesey 96). We should add that there is general support also for the establishment of the inspection units as wholly independent entities from the local authorities whose services they inspect.

  54.12  A wide range of other matters was discussed in the course of Adrianne Jones' evidence and we touch upon the most relevant of them here. According to the responses provided by the successor authorities, there are very few children looked after in North Wales to whom a social worker is not allocated at any particular time and any gaps in the allocation are short term only because of illness or a similar reason. It is said also that the children are visited by social workers regularly, at the least in accordance with statutory requirements, and they are instructed that they are expected to see a child alone in the course of a visit. It appears that, in general, there has been significant improvement in complying with good practice requirements, including the recording of visits but Anglesey, for example, was criticised in an SSIW report on its audit of fostering practice in the county and Flintshire has not fully complied with the statutory requirements for the timing and scheduling of reviews under the Foster Placements (Children) Regulations 1991. Regular monitoring by senior managers is not yet standard practice but the need for it is acknowledged.

  54.13  All six of the successor authorities are experiencing difficulties in recruiting foster carers, particularly for children with special needs, but these difficulties are occurring nationwide. The emergence of an increased number of private fostering agencies in competition with local authorities and willing to pay higher rates is one of the factors affecting the supply. The response to advertising tends to be poor and Adrianne Jones emphasises the need for local authorities to offer a "whole package" to prospective carers, involving training to enable them to develop the necessary skills and continuing support as well as remuneration reflecting the needs of the child.

  54.14  The evidence submitted by the new authorities is to the effect that the necessary checks on applicants for employment and prospective foster carer and adopters are now being carried out vigorously, although two authorities were shown to have been omitting checks with the Department of Health until this was brought to their attention. The speed of response to inquiries has been improved but the need for a central repository of information is stressed by many of the authorities. This need should now be met when the provisions of the Protection of Children Act 1999 are fully implemented.

  54.15  Most children in foster care or in residential care now receive information about the complaints procedures applicable to them when they are admitted to such care. The information is usually set out in a leaflet or a similarly accessible document, which is handed to each child, and there are continuing efforts to make them more "user-friendly"[892]. Flintshire and Wrexham supply the Children's Rights Service with particulars of all accommodated children (in Wrexham all children being looked after over the age of 11 years) and that Service itself circulates appropriate information to the children. Less progress, however, has been made in relation to whistleblowing procedures, which we consider to be of at least equal importance. At the time when the evidence was submitted to us, only Flintshire had formally approved such a procedure. Denbighshire had issued an instruction to staff but had not formulated its policy and Gwynedd was merely planning to develop a policy (staff are "encouraged" to raise matters of concern about colleagues). In the other three authorities the policies were either in draft form and/or in the process of being considered by committees. In the light of our findings about the discouragement of the small number of whistleblowers in both the former North Wales counties, we attach great importance to the conscientious implementation of these policies in the future and close independent monitoring will be essential.

  54.16  In the closing stages of our hearings the Tribunal heard some disquieting evidence of dissatisfaction amongst professional staff in Flintshire about the response to staff complaints before the county's present whistleblowing procedures were approved. Part of the evidence, in the form of an agreed statement, dealt with serious breaches of child protection procedures and record keeping in five separate cases. Complaints were made by four social workers about different aspects of these cases but they were dealt with inadequately at a high level. It was said that the absence of a whistleblowing procedure led to an atmosphere of personal hostility between various members of staff. Three senior officers subsequently apologised for their respective roles in these events but one of the complainants[893] decided to take early retirement in view of his disillusionment with the service. The rest of the evidence dealt with the response to allegations of physical abuse of a child at Cornel Clyd and revealed management failings that were aggravated by the lack of a whistleblowing procedure. The Tribunal referred these events to the Welsh Office for investigation.

  54.17  We commented in paragraph 49.42 of this report upon the absence of evidence about the appointment of independent visitors under the former regimes in North Wales. Adrianne Jones sought specific information about this from the successor authorities. The responses disclosed that Conwy only has appointed such a visitor: two children were identified as in need of the service and had been provided with visitors "via the North Wales GALRO service". It was intended by Conwy to develop by 1 June 1998 a combined service provided by the Children's Society, embracing a children's rights advocacy service and independent visiting. A number of other children in Conwy met the criteria for the appointment of an independent visitor but they had rejected the offer. All but one of the other authorities reported that there were children in need of independent visitors (Anglesey 2, Gwynedd 1, Denbighshire 1, Wrexham 9) but that none had yet been appointed.

  54.18  In her comment upon these responses, Adrianne Jones drew attention to the statutory duty imposed upon local authorities in this respect under paragraph 17(1) of Schedule 2 to the Children Act 1989 and to Sir William Utting's comments on this subject[894]. She added that the responses raise the questions whether all children who might be befriended by an independent visitor are being considered for such assistance and whether it would be available, having regard to the lack of developed schemes and problems with the recruitment of suitable persons. These responses reinforce our view that a wider review of the practice under the statutory provision is desirable and that consideration should be given to revising the pre-conditions for appointing independent visitors.

The overall provision of residential care

  54.19  The figures that we have quoted in Chapter 53 showing where children were accommodated on 15 January 1998 are brought together in the following table:

We cannot vouch for the accuracy of these figures but they give an adequate picture of the way in which children looked after were accommodated in North Wales almost two years after the successor authorities came into being, except possibly in relation to the use of out of county facilities for residential care.

  54.20  The table shows that only ten per cent of the children looked after are in residential care and only six per cent are accommodated in residential homes within their own local authority area. Moreover, there were only nine local authority children's homes available in North Wales for use as such with maximum accommodation for 33 children, excluding the three Flintshire homes used for respite care and the three houses in Conwy used to prepare one person in each for independence; and the provision of at least two of the nine children's homes is regarded as temporary.

  54.21  We regard it as strongly arguable that this provision for residential child care in North Wales as a whole is inadequate and that the extent of reliance upon out of North Wales placements (both actual and potential) is unacceptable. There is wide agreement that such placements are disadvantageous to children for numerous reasons that need not be catalogued here; but the language and cultural problems for a child brought up in North Wales may be particularly severe. The range of needs of children for whom suitable foster placements are unavailable is certainly not met by the existing children's homes and it is likely that co-operative action will be necessary to find a solution. There is no enthusiasm amongst the successor authorities for revival of the former Regional Plan mechanisms but the need for concerted action is recognised and, in our view, active Welsh Office participation in the process will be essential.

  54.22  It is important that any such review should include the private and voluntary children's homes in North Wales and similar private residential establishments for children, including schools that cater for special needs. The information supplied to us on this subject is very incomplete and a full analysis is overdue. Any review should include those homes presently accommodating fewer than four children that are excluded from the requirement of registration under current legislation. Much dissatisfaction with this exclusion has been expressed to us and, in our view, it should now be re-considered within the full framework of the provision of residential care.

The monitoring of foster placements

  54.23  The proportion of children looked after by North Wales authorities who are fostered fell by about one per cent in the two years following reorganisation but the actual number increased from 329 to 405 because of a 20 per cent rise in the number of children looked after. It appears that there have been progressive improvements in the allocation of social workers to individual children and in the frequency of social workers' visits, which are encouraging; and we are not aware of any specific contemporary complaints by foster children. The responsibility of monitoring the availability of placements and the quality of fostering services over a wide area is, however, onerous and we are not persuaded that there is any effective mechanism for this in place. Specific inspections, for example, by the SSIW from time to time can play a useful role but more continuous appraisal is needed and, as in the case of inspection units, it is likely to be more sensitive and responsive if it is locally based.

  54.24  This need for effective independent monitoring of foster placements is closely linked with the problem of adequate residential care provision. Whilst the continuing bias in favour of foster care is understood and accepted, it does not provide a universal solution: the need for a range of alternative placements remains and the suitability of individual foster placements needs to be kept under continuous review, particularly in respect of children with special needs or who otherwise present special problems.

  54.25  There is a particular need to keep under overall review the resort to multiple foster placements for children looked after. The evidence before the Tribunal has disclosed that, during the period under review, many of the complainants were subjected to numerous changes of foster placements as well as changes from one community home to another. We accept that this may be unavoidable in the case of some disturbed children but multiple foster placements are likely to be highly damaging and may indicate a serious weakness in fostering practice. It is important, therefore, not only to scrutinise the causes of breakdown in individual cases but also to ensure that comprehensive records of the success or failure of placements are maintained and readily accessible.

  54.26  The relatively low number of complaints against former foster parents received by the North Wales Police and the Tribunal does not, in our view, justify complacency about the risk of abuse in foster care. As we have said earlier, the constraints upon a foster child in making such complaints tend to be even greater than they are upon children in residential homes and this has been illustrated by some of the cases that we have discussed. Moreover, some of the cases that have been reported to us have been particularly grave. Vigilance by everyone who has contact with the children is all important, therefore, and it is particularly necessary that teachers, members of the medical profession and police officers, who are likely to or may have such contact, should be informed about and responsive to signs of abuse.

The supervision of children leaving care

  54.27  The requirements of section 24 of the Children Act 1989 and some recent SSIW inspections have done much to focus the attention of the successor authorities upon the needs of young persons leaving care; and all these authorities now use the relevant Department of Health "Looking After Children" material in preparing children for leaving care. We are satisfied that the commitment exists but the practical implementation of policies such as those modelled on the former Clwyd's Leaving Care Strategy (published in May 1995) will again require continuous monitoring. The problems facing former foster children may well be as severe as those for children leaving residential care; and the forms of assistance that may be needed are wide ranging. In their final submissions to the Tribunal, the successor authorities supported Sir William Utting's recommendation[895] that section 24 of the Act of 1989 should be amended to extend the duties of local authorities to include helping foster carers to continue providing support to their former charges on leaving care.

Financial provision generally

  54.28  In explaining the financial provision that they have made for children's services since April 1996, the successor authorities point out that the budgets for social services (and for children's services as part of them) for each new authority derived from the budgets of the former County Councils did not take into account any additional expenditure that might be necessary to provide appropriately skilled higher management of those services. This is but one aspect, in their submission, of the failure of central government to match financial resources and actual needs; and subsequent imposed savings, enforced by capping, made it extremely difficult even to maintain the level of children's services.

  54.29  The force of these submissions is compelling and, in our judgment, there is a strong case for a fresh assessment of the needs of children's services on an all-Wales basis. Such a re-assessment would be particularly timely following the implementation of the Children Act 1989 and the reorganisation of both central and local government in Wales. It would be able to take into account the special needs of the more numerous and smaller unitary authorities, including the opportunities for co-ordinated provision or action by them; and it would provide an opportunity for re-assessment of priorities in the social services, giving due weight to the parental responsibility of local authorities towards every child in its care.

Conclusions

  54.30  The evidence presented by the successor authorities has been reassuring in some respects and has demonstrated awareness of most of the problems that have still to be faced. The size and financial resources of the new authorities, however, are such that they will need considerable help and guidance from the Welsh Office/Welsh Assembly in order to achieve effective provision of children's services and discharge of their parental responsibilities throughout North Wales. The continuing work of the Adrianne Jones Report Implementation Group will be of importance in monitoring practice standards for the time being but we do not envisage that it will provide a satisfactory permanent mechanism. As we have indicated in this chapter, concerted action by the authorities in a number of fields is highly desirable and Welsh Office/Welsh Assembly participation in this, at least by way of supervision, is likely to be necessary. Moreover, the financial support for children's services and the degree of priority to be given to them are matters that will have to be addressed on a nationwide basis.

  54.31  Amongst our recommendations is one identifying the need for management training of senior managers (first, second and third tier) in Social Services Departments. One of many factors giving rise to this need is that reorganisation of the Social Services Department in North Wales was effected from within the former two counties at senior management level[896] with the result that there has been little opportunity for cross-fertilisation of ideas and practice from outside. Moreover, the size of the authorities and the need for competence in Welsh speaking will inevitably limit to some extent the opportunities for recruitment from outside Wales in the future. The need to keep managers up to date with rapidly developing practices in many fields is, therefore, of special importance.

Footnotes:

886   See paras 49.88 to 49.91.

887   See paras 53.45 and 53.46.

888   Recommendation 24.

889   We refer back to the pre-1974 arrangements.

890   See paras 53.25 and 53.26.

891   See paras 44.30 to 44.36.

892   See in this connection paras 49.47 to 49.51.

893   Jeffrey Douglas, who is referred to in paras 17.58 to 17.78 of this report. Back

894   See People Like Us, 1997, The Stationery Office, paras 10.13 to 10.16 for his most recent views. Back

895   People Like Us, 1997, para 8.64. Back

896   See para 53.04. Back