West Berkshire children's services get help from private firm

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-berkshire-34083534

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The government has brought in a private firm to try and improve children's services in West Berkshire after a damning Ofsted report.

Advisors from Exploring Choices have been working with the council to draw up plans to help the ailing department.

It comes after an inspection in March rated the service as inadequate.

The council said it had struggled to cope with a rise in demand for its services, which it had found "challenging".

Proposals have been submitted to the Department for Education and include moves to give more training to social workers and improve retention levels.

The council has already planned a £600,000 investment for additional training and new staff.

'Serious failures'

Other moves include new social workers being sent to an academy to undergo a two-year intensive training course.

Sunderland City Council introduced a similar academy which helped reduce reliance on agency staff from 33% in 2010 to 2% in 2014.

The Ofsted inspection at West Berkshire, published in May, raised concerns of "widespread or serious failures" and said about one in 10 of the 134 children on protection plans were not seen often enough.

Councillor Lynne Doherty, member for children's services, said: "It's hard to be told that your performance isn't good enough but we accepted the report's findings and recognise the steps we need to take to improve things.

"The council was quick to acknowledge the areas for improvement, and action [is] already under way."