"Significant service developments" following two reports into child services

Thursday 29 April 2021

Two inspections into child services and the law that governs the protection of young people were undertaken in 2014 and 2015. Six years on and progress has been made on what was branded at the time as an "inadequate service."

The Children's Law, 2008, came into force in 2010 and was an update on island legislation aimed at protecting our youngsters. It was independently reviewed five years later in the Marshall Report, which led to 21 recommendations to improve services.

At the same time, a parallel investigation was undertaken by interim-Director of the then-HSSD department Ruby Parry. The Parry diagnostic was released in 2015 and focused on child services, the management structure and social services. The damning report revealed an "inadequate service" that suffered from "lack of clear governance" and a "lack of outcomes." Ms Parry made 29 recommendations at the time.

During an investigation into Guernsey’s child services Express asked for the latest update on which of the Marshall Report and Parry Diagnostic recommendations have been ticked off.

The Marshall report “sought to establish whether outcomes for children and their families had improved as a result of the implementation of the Child Law.” The law itself offers guiding principles on how children are seen in the eyes of the law, and how they are treated and looked after being exposed to abusive situations.

Pictured: The Marshall Report focused on the legal framework governing the island's services for children.

Scottish solicitor, Kathleen Marshall, was brought over to Guernsey to independently assess the implementation of the law, and in general found the law had been widely welcomed, but there had “been difficulties in implementation.”

She made 21 recommendations on private and public law. The Committee for Health and Social Care, when asked for comment, said: “The CfHSC and the other Committees affected have kept under review the recommendations of the Marshall Report. Some of the actions arising from the recommendations have been fulfilled, whilst others have been subject to further discussion.”

Breaking down the nine recommendations that are subject to further discussion, we can see that work still needs to be done on introducing timescales for finding of fact hearings at court, and that a future policy letter and the Children and Young People’s Plan are being used to tie off several other recommendations.

You can read the full Marshall report and all its recommendations online.

Only four recommendations remain outstanding and have since been handed over to the current Committee, with a commitment “to progress this political term.” 

This includes a recommendation for an independent avenue of complaints such as an ombudsman, and a consideration for a Child, Youth and Community Tribunal.

The Marshall report was a major contributor to the revamping of the Safeguarder service into the Family Proceedings Advisory Service, following an Oftsed inspection off the back of the recommendations.

Pictured:  The FPAS is responsible for assigning advisors to families and their children during court proceedings.

The response from Child Services regarding the Parry diagnostic has been extensive, and highlighted a raft of measures and initiatives Child Services has undertaken to meet the recommendations and develop the service.

"A comprehensive action plan was compiled in 2015 to ensure that the recommendations set out in the Parry Report were successfully implemented in a timely manner," said a spokesperson. 

The recommendations covered issues in governance, practice and the workforce, pushing for further implementation of the Children and Young People's Plan and a greater focus on "leadership and management within the CSC."

"28 of the 29 recommendations have now been fully met, with just one outstanding in relation to the need for secondary legislation for care leavers," said the spokesperson. This remaining recommendation has now been incorporated within what has been called the Corporate Parenting Strategy 2020 - 2023.

The diagnostic led to the creation of the Multi-Agency Support Hub, which acts as a single point of access when interacting with various services related to child welfare.

We've been told that Children and Family Community Services continues to "review and develop trauma informed services in accordance with evidence based practice, in order to meet the changing needs of the children of the Bailiwick."