Herefordshire Council Cabinet approved the use of £6.49m funding at a meeting held on Thursday 24 November 2022, to continue to transform Herefordshire Children’s Social Care Services.
The £6.49m investment is the remaining amount of £11.49m funding, previously approved by Cabinet in March 2022.
The funding will help to ensure the council’s children’s services are adequately resourced and can provide a more secure and resilient service to Herefordshire children and their families in the future.
Corporate Director for Children and Young People, Darryl Freeman, said:
“The remaining £6.49m investment provides us with security to continue our work to transform Herefordshire Children’s Services and deliver our improvement plan.
“The first £5m in funding has led to increased stability in our workforce, reduced caseloads, improved systems and closer management supervision. We’ve also seen an increase in the frequency of visits and our Social Workers are now able to spend more time supporting children and families that are in need.
“The release of the remaining funding will allow us to focus on the priority areas identified by Ofsted following their July 2022 inspection to ensure significant and lasting improvements in the services we offer Herefordshire families.
“We will also continue to build Herefordshire Children’s Social Care Services into a desirable place to come and work with a good work/life balance in a beautiful, family-friendly environment.”
