Improvement Adviser in Blackpool

The Adviser will support the authority in continuing to develop and implement robust, realistic and achievable plans to improve its children's social care services, in particular those areas which have been judged by Ofsted to be inadequate or where serious concerns have been identified. This needs to take account of and build on the year and a half of improvement work that Blackpool has already undertaken. In particular he will:

Provide effective oversight to ensure the pace of improvement is appropriate and that improvements to children's social care are sustainable;

Provide support and advice as necessary when assessing and driving progress, taking account of the weaknesses identified by Ofsted and of other diagnostic work that has taken place since;

Building on the improvement work already underway and the relationships established, apply his/her expertise and experience to support the DCS and service management team in addressing areas of weakness; this may also include working with practitioners of different levels to:

Develop competence and improve performance through the embedding of the Blackpool Families Rock practice model and improving quality of case recording;

Supporting managers in their use of data and intelligence to drive activity and improve management oversight;

Supporting the development of the managerial group;

Provide input into the Assessed and Supported Year in Employment (ASYE) programme, looking at the quality of teaching;

Supporting improvement in practice during pre-proceedings activity to reduce drift and delay; and

Help foster a culture of reflection, challenge and support;

Make use of wider contacts to support and advise the council on potential solutions to issues and signpost examples of good practice where possible;

Provide support and challenge to Children's Partnership Board and Pan-Lancashire Safeguarding arrangements; assisting in the determination of their effectiveness;

Work closely with any other local authority improvement partners to maximise impact of work and avoid unnecessary duplication;

Engage with the wider partnership including working with the chair of the Improvement Board.