Poor oversight of social work case management system left council unaware of children’s whereabouts

Director of children's services at Surrey blames lack of accurate data, uncovered by financial audit, on attempt to customise LiquidLogic software

Poor implementation and lack of oversight of a popular social work case management system left a council unable to track the whereabouts of children in its care, a committee meeting has heard.

An audit report presented yesterday, which set out to investigate overspending on children looked after and with special educational needs, found no one at Surrey council had responsibility for the LiquidLogic software.

This left the authority – twice rated ‘inadequate’ by Ofsted and in the throes of a major transformation – unable to fulfil its duties as a corporate parent or to reliably track payments to care providers or foster parents.

“There is no single, clear set of procedure notes for LCS, contributing to inconsistent and/or incorrect recording of information,” the audit report said, describing a LiquidLogic module that is meant to track children’s journeys through care.

“The ineffective use of systems has resulted in inaccurate and unreliable data, which hinders financial monitoring, precludes the availability of meaningful management information, and prevents the council from fulfilling statutory duties,” the report added.

‘It ought to support social workers, but doesn’t’

Surrey’s audit report was prepared during summer 2018 on the orders of the council’s chief executive, Joanna Killian. But the final version was delayed, in part because of comings and goings in children’s services senior management, according to director of children’s services Dave Hill.

https://www.communitycare.co.uk/2019/03/07/chaotic-implementation-liquidlogic-case-management-system-surrey/