‘Serious concerns’ about Bridgend children’s services remain...
A year on from the murder of Logan Mwangi, Care Inspectorate Wales says there are still 'serious concerns' with children's services at Bridgend County Borough Council.
A new report declares "further urgent action" is needed to improve services, but acknowledges there have been some improvements in the last 12 months.
Logan Mwangi, aged five, was murdered by his mother, step-father and step-brother in July 2021.
He died of catastrophic injuries in an attack carried out at his home. His body was dumped in the River Ogmore nearby, in Sarn, Bridgend County.
Angharad Williamson, 31, John Cole, 40, and 14-year-old Craig Mulligan were all convicted of murder and received life sentences.
A report following the latest routine inspection on the children's services department in Bridgend was released on August 1 2022, nearly a year to the day after Logan was killed.
The inspection took place between 23 and 27 May 2022 and found staff absence and recruitment, coupled with "deficits in some systems and processes, including managerial oversight arrangements, has had a significant adverse impact on the delivery of some children’s services in Bridgend County Borough".
Concerns were also identified in relation to "the timeliness of the local authority’s Information Advice and Assistance (IAA) service and the ability to meet its statutory responsibilities to promote and protect the wellbeing of vulnerable children and families."
A separate child practice review looking at the circumstances around Logan's death and the involvement of professionals in his and his family's life is due to be published in the autumn.
The family was known to social services but Logan had been removed from the child protection register a month before his death. The Welsh Government announced a serious case review, and said that the result of that would be considered before wider issues were investigated.
PSW recently reported how a leading social work academic, Professor Donald Forrester, was calling for a review of children's services in Wales in the wake of the death of Logan. BASW Cymru backed the calls.
Prof Forrester, director of the Cascade children’s social care research centre, described a system under “strain” and “stress” and urged for a “step back” to consider whether children’s social care could be improved.
A Welsh Government spokesperson said: “The Care Inspectorate Wales report on Bridgend’s Children’s Services highlights a number of areas of concern. The Minister has sought assurances that work to address the issues raised in the report will be undertaken as a matter of urgency. We will work with Bridgend and Care Inspectorate Wales to support them to make the improvements required and address the issues highlighted.
“We have set out an ambitious programme for reform to transform children’s services in Wales and have been clear that now is the time for action and not further review. This action is based on a range of independent research, reviews and evaluation which set out the changes and the challenges which must be addressed.”
Councillor Jane Gebbie, cabinet member for social services and early help at Bridgend County Borough Council, said: "A great deal of work has already taken place to improve the overall quality of our services for children and their families, and much of this has been highlighted by the report. We have commissioned a programme of independent quality assurance to assess the strengths and areas for development in children’s services, are actively recruiting new employees, and are carefully redeploying existing staff to provide additional support in areas experiencing the most pressure.
"Management oversight and decision-making has been strengthened by increased frequency of supervision in priority areas and the better collection and scrutiny of performance information data, and greater planning to reconfigure and improve the resilience and sustainability of the service in the longer term is also being taken forward.”