Independent panel to oversee Peterborough children's services after council issued Government improvement notice

An independent panel will oversee Peterborough City Council’s (PCC) children’s services after the council was issued an improvement notice by the Government.

The panel, mandated by the Department of Education (DofE), will be set up this week at a PCC full council meeting on Wednesday, 5th November.

It will ensure that an improvement plan, drawn up after a critical Ofsted report issued earlier this year, is properly implemented.

The regulators said that child safeguarding arrangements in the city were not “effectively promoting the protection of children” in their report and that staff weren’t always “[considering] presenting risks quickly enough”.

PCC responded with an action plan to address these concerns and also appointed a new executive director of children’s services, John Gregg.

Sally Rowes, who has previously held this same role, will chair the improvement panel, a £30,000 p.a. position which will be paid for by the DofE.

The rest of the panel will be expected to fulfil their roles voluntarily.

Members will include PCC staff and councillors, including its chief executive and leader, as well as a DofE representative and heads of local services such as police and the region’s integrated care board.

Together, they will review leadership, culture and performance, not only within PCC but also the other agencies that – alongside the council – manage child safeguarding in Peterborough.

Increased oversight of children’s services will continue until further notice from the Government.

If ministers aren’t satisfied with PCC’s progress after the establishment of the panel, they can choose to intervene more directly to bring about improvements, a council report says.

The council as a whole is already being overseen by an independent improvement panel which issues reports on its finances and governments every six months.

This was established after the council requested exceptional financial support from the Government in summer 2021.