Tower Hamlets Children's Services Praised for Early Help and Prevention Strategies

Tower Hamlets' children's services have been commended for their robust early help and prevention strategies, which are credited with contributing to strong social care outcomes despite significant child poverty rates in the borough.

The Children and Education Scrutiny Sub-Committee heard that the directorate had achieved an outstanding rating in its recent ILACS inspection and received positive feedback from a Joint Targeted Area Inspection (JTAI).

Corporate Director Steve Reddy highlighted that 13 out of 13 key performance indicators (KPIs) were reported as green. One KPI for care leavers into employment and training was amber, though still above London and national averages. Staff satisfaction was also noted as positive, with a reduction in sickness absence.

Councillor Faisal Ahmed, Lead Member for Children's Services, emphasised the council's investment in early help and prevention services, particularly through family hubs, as a key factor in their success. I think that the council and partners really invest in early help and prevention, Councillor Ahmed stated. And I think when you look at sort of the support around dealing with poverty, when we look at the early help and prevention, that's done in our family hubs, which is really positive.

The Families First social care reform aims to increase prevention and early intervention, with family hubs playing a central role in this initiative. These hubs are instrumental in providing support to families facing challenges such as poverty, substance abuse, mental health issues, and domestic violence. The council's commitment to keeping children with their families is also a key strategy, with extensive use of family group conferencing contributing to low numbers of children in care.

While the specific metrics for these strong social care outcomes were not detailed, the approach focuses on supporting families proactively. The positive staff feedback and reduction in sickness absence are attributed to efforts to ensure staff feel supported, with close monitoring of workloads and caseloads, and regular scrutiny of management oversight.

Further details on the committee's proceedings can be found in the Public reports pack and the Agenda frontsheet for the meeting. The Minutes of Previous Meeting are also available.