A QUARTERLY update into safeguarding children at Powys County Council, shows the state of the under fire department between October and December 2017, and not where it is now.

The cabinet stressed that the report given by Cllr Rachel Powell,cabinet member for Children's Services, looks back on that three month period which concentrates on the immediate aftermath of the damning report by inspectors.

Council leader Cllr Rosemarie Harris believed that an online article based on this report had concentrated too much on the high levels of staff absence giving an unfair picture of the situation as it is now.

In October the Care and Social Services inspectorate Wales (CSSIW) now known as the Care Inspectorate Wales (CIW) produced a damning inspection report into Powys council's children's services in October 2017, which revealed missed opportunities to safeguard children, poor risk assessment and serious performance issues with frontline services.

In January the CIW gave the Council a warning letter after a follow up visit to the authority.

Cllr Powell, said: "This is a retrospective it's not current.

"This is from October to December 2017 and this went alongside the inspection."

Cllr Powell went on to add that there were positive signs from the department and that they had the "capacity" to "deliver change."

"The council has produced the improvement plan on time and a programme for the next three years which will put us in a place of strength and exemplary performance," said Cllr Powell.

She said that the warning letter from January, had praised the "strength of the staff" and their "resilience" in the challenging time and

Cllr Powell continued: "We have been supported by additional resources in the budget.

"We continue to work with CSSIW (CIW) and government.

"The Improvement Board meets monthly, and we have significant reporting on a monthly basis,

"They are aware where we are and where we are going."

Although based on data from October to December, the report identified issues with staffing levels which included a number of agency staff described as "not sustainable" for meeting the longer term needs of children and families.

Teams in pressure points such as Newtown and Welshpool were described as losing staff and high levels of absence.

On this point Cllr Powell, said: "The pressure points are being addressed."

On staffing levels Cllr Powell said there were 360 members of staff in the department, with 53 per cent on permanent contracts, 25 per cent on fixed term contracts and the final 12 per cent being a mixture of casual, and agency staff.

Of the 360, 15 are absent and the number of agency staff has come down since November.

Council leader Cllr Rosemarie Harris, believed this to be a very low percentage of absent staff.

David Powell, Acting Chief Executive of Powys Council, said: "This was the first phase which was stabilisation now we are in the next phase which is improvement.

Mr Powell added that Alison Bullman had been appointed as the new director of social services.