HEREFORDSHIRE Council’s child protection service expects to be out of government intervention within the next three months.

The Department for Education (DfE) says it is “broadly reassured”  as to the progress the council is making against the action plan addressing safeguarding issues that saw the service rated inadequate by Ofsted in 2012.

A follow-up inspection by Ofsted in May last year moved the service on to “requires improvement”.

In December, the DfE carried out its own review and will be recommending to the relevant minister that its intervention notice - issued with the inadequate rating - is withdrawn by May.

Relevant reports reference a “new found confidence” within the service given “added impetus” to the progress being made.

The council wants to see the service graded “good” by 2016/17 but, from the frontline up, it is accepted that there is still some way to go.

Improvements are said to be not yet fully embedded and the staffing situation remains relatively fragile.

Permanent staff appointments are a priority and have stabilised further with only one permanent social worker leaving since April last year.

While the service still remains reliant on agency staff, the profile of such staff has reduced to 31% of the overall establishment.

But agency staff have been recognised for the part they have played in the service’s recovery so far.

The DfE inspection report specifically cited a workforce that now felt “safe and clear on its role” within a culture of improvement and recognised stability at management level.

Caseloads are said to be manageable and averaging at 16, but evidence was found of variance from team to team and within teams.

As a result of improvement initiatives, the service has had a number of legacy cases to assess.

Neglect, specifically chronic neglect, makes up much of ongoing caseload work.

At present, 270 children are in the council’s care with another 160 subject to protection plans.