THE fostering and adoption service of Dumfries and Galloway Council is still “weak” and falling below standards, according to care inspectors.
Assessors from the Care Inspectorate made a visit to the council’s social work offices in Irish Street, Dumfries, in August this year.
This was a follow-up to another short notice visit made in November last year to review the work of the fostering and adoption services.
The inspectors were not satisfied with what they found – and have graded both fostering and adoption poorly once again.
In evaluating quality, the inspectors use a six point scale where one is unsatisfactory and six is excellent.
Most areas were scored between one and two (unsatisfactory and weak), although the planning of care and support had improved to three (adequate).
The report was discussed at the council’s social work committee last week where Stephen Morgan, the region’s chief social work officer, stressed that some improvements had been made.
He said: “The timescales between the inspection of 2023 and this one were very, very short, and much shorter than the Care Inspectorate would normally have.
“That was actually at our request because we wanted them to come back to do a full inspection, as opposed to a progress report.
“That meant that we carried significant risk that the gradings would remain the same.
“So, although the actual gradings are not good, we have seen marginal improvements.
“We have made progress in all areas, we just haven’t made complete progress.”
Charles Rocks, the council’s head of children, families and justice social work, added: “It’s been a difficult time. The previous inspection in 2023 had an impact on staff who take great pride in the work that they undertake.
“There’s been a huge amount of work around the improvement actions, and Stephen highlighted how the Care Inspectorate don’t measure against partial progress, they have to measure on full progress.
“The timeline that completed at the end of last year through to the revisit this year, this just wasn’t the time required to make the improvements we’re looking at.
“That being said, the staff and management and leadership around this has been exemplary in terms of moving this forward.”
Stranraer and the Rhins Councillor Ben Dashper described the report as “quite concerning”.
He added: “In our capacity as corporate parents, where we have the responsibility of looking after these children, is there anything that the social work governance group can do to keep us more informed regularly instead of waiting on reports like this coming to committee?”
It was then agreed by the committee that updates on progress would provided to councillors via briefings in future.
