Neath Port Talbot Children’s Services out of Serious Concerns

Chief Officers at Neath Port Talbot Council have today thanked all involved in bringing the authority’s Children and Young People Services out of the Serious Concerns protocol which was placed on it in November 2012.

Nick Jarman, Director of Social Services said:

“This is a major and very welcome development following more than two years of hard work to put the service back on track. A huge amount of effort has gone into service redesign and redevelopment and the vast improvements made have been evidenced in the CSSiW inspection report in a range of areas.

“Elected Members have been 100% committed to making sure that we have excellent services for children and young people and the improvements could not have been made without this commitment. There has also been strong support from external partners.

“Above all else, the report’s findings are testimony to the hard work of each and every member of staff in the service and other areas of the Council.

“However, we are not complacent and still have considerable challenges to address. Our improvement programme will continue, as will our aspiration to provide the very best services for the children, young people and families that we support.”

Andrew Jarrett, Head of Children and Young people Services added:

“Today’s announcement is excellent news and a testament to the relentless efforts of staff working in the service and in other areas of the council, Councillors, officers and our partners.

“We have made vast improvements over the past two and a half years. We now have a stable, strong and united workforce, our caseloads are manageable, the number of complaints we receive has fallen rapidly and the quality of social work is much more consistent.”