IT system for Wakefield children's services will 'simplify' process for social workers

It was revealed last week that the local authority was looking for a new company to run its electronic system, on which files of vulnerable children and adults in the district are kept.

The current provider, CareWorks, are two years into a five year deal with Wakefield Council, but the deal will not be ripped up early, despite criticism of the system from Ofsted last year.

The watchdog said social workers couldn't access basic information about children in the care of the state.

On Tuesday morning, the council's Cabinet approved a tendering process which will see a new provider offer a data service for children's services, while CareWorks will still be used for files with information on vulnerable adults.

The council's portfolio holder for children and young people, Coun Margaret Isherwood, said: "Prior to the 2018 Ofsted inspection, the recording system we used was adequate.

"But now since we've had that Ofsted report, we need to look at respecifying what we need from our data recording system.

"The new specification will provide an opportunity to tailor that system specifically for children's services and it will simplify the process for practitioners (social workers).

"Practitioners at the moment find the current system cumbersome and difficult to use and they're not getting the information they need to do the job."

Local Democracy Reporting Service