Agenda item

PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT 2019/20

Minutes:

Report CEF19004

 

The Committee considered the regular update on the performance of services for children.

 

A Member expressed concern that the entire report had been exempt from publication noting that there were large sections of the report that did not warrant such exemption.  The Chairman confirmed that she had requested that future reports be accompanied by a Part 1 summary detailing as much information as possible.  Officers responded that the report had been exempt from publication to enable transparency and open discussion at the meeting.  The Portfolio Holder also confirmed that he would prefer to see more information in Part 1 but had been advised that in some cases numbers were so small it could be possible to identify individuals.

 

Members noted that as at the end of August 2019, the following Children’s Scrutiny Dataset key performance indicators were performing below expectation:

 

Indicator 5: Number of Secondary Permanent Exclusions

 

The number of permanent exclusions from Secondary schools increased to 62 as at the end of the 2018/19 academic year.  Permanent exclusions from secondary schools had risen over the past two years and the rate per school population was above both the London and National averages.

 

In response to a question, the Director of Education recognised that there were historical, systemic issues and action had been taken to address these.  Members had agreed investment in a 14-16 vocational programme which it was hoped would make a significant contribution to addressing and resolving some of the key issues.  Funding for the programme provided by the Council had been supplemented by secondary schools and the Director of Education confirmed that he was confident that improvements would be delivered.

 

The Portfolio Holder stressed the need to review and focus on early intervention to avoid exclusions.  Members noted that an external review had been commissioned and would report back in November.  The Director of Education agreed to update the Committee on the outcome of the review at its next meeting in January 2020.

 

Action Point 2: That at the January meeting the Director of Education provides the Committee with an update concerning the external review on early intervention in relation to permanent exclusions.

 

 

 

Indicator 25: Stability of placements of Children Looked After - length of  placement

The length of placement indicator referred to children under the age of 16 who had been in care for 2 and half years or more and had been in their current placement for 2 years or more. As at the end of August, 54% of children had been in their placement for two years or more. 

Members noted that this indicator continued to be one of the biggest challenges due to the variety of contributing issues and the service continued to prioritise permanency planning for all children, including working on relationships with providers and carers. It was anticipated that the indicator should start to improve over the next year as the children who were moved to better placements during the Ofsted improvement journey would achieve the 2 year milestone required for this indicator. The new Head of Service for CLA would be reviewing and monitoring this.

The Assistant Director of Children’s Social Care reported that going forward increases in foster carer recruitment and improvements in relationships with foster carers would also improve performance against this indicator.

Indicator 27: % of Care leavers (aged 19, 20, 21) who are in Suitable Accommodation (DFE definition)

Members noted that as at the end of June, 75% of the cohort were known to be in suitable accommodation.  A small number of care leavers did not wish to have Local Authority support and involvement and so their accommodation suitability would not be known and this was something over which the Local Authority had little control. Arrangements for this cohort were regularly reviewed in order to update and maintain the suitability of accommodation.

A Member suggested that to further support the scrutiny role it would be helpful for the report to reflect two sets of figures – one including care leavers that did not wish to have ongoing support and involvement  and one set of figure that excluded these care leavers.  This would enable Members to judge performance against the factors within the control of the Local Authority.

Indicator 34: % Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCP) issued within statutory 20 week timescale

 

Members noted that the data for April to June 2019 showed that 50 out of 93 new EHCPs were completed within the 20 week timescale (54%).  This was an improvement on the previous quarter, but remained below the London and National average.

 

The delays had arisen from a combination of increased focus on the quality of plans and significant increases in statutory assessments being undertaken.  There were 281 assessments undertaken in 2017, rising to 356 in 2018 (an increase of 27%).  In 2019 to date, the number of assessments undertaken was 343, (96% of the full 2018 calendar year), with a predicted 36% increase to 484 for the full 2019 calendar year.

 

Members noted that a similar growth pattern was being seen nationally and the demand was impacting all services.

 

In response to a question, the Director of Education confirmed that this was being closely monitored by the Department and continued to be an area of focus.  Significant challenges remained as a result of the growth in demand and the consequential impact on limited resources.  This was closely scrutinised during the Ofsted SEND Area Inspection although it was recognised that this was a national issue.  The Government was now also acknowledging that when the new arrangements were introduced in 2015 there had been significant under resourcing and funding was now being introduced to support Councils to deliver on their statutory responsibilities.

 

Members highlighted that the report contained limited detail on the action that was being implemented to addressed areas were performance was rated as amber or red.  The Chairman stressed the importance of providing the Committee with sufficient detail to supported Members in their scrutiny role to help drive further improvement.  A Member suggested that it may be helpful for the report to contain links back to reports received by the Committee concerning indicators that were consistently red over a period of time, this would better enable Members to track the information that had been provided.

 

Action Point 3: That more detail be included in reports to support Members in their scrutiny role.

 

In response to a question, the Director of Education confirmed that the green rating of performance in relation to school Ofsted inspections was expected to remain secure following recent school inspections.  However, the Director of Education highlighted that the impact of the new Ofsted Inspection Framework was still unclear and could impact on future performance.

 

Turing to social worker caseloads within children’s social care, in response to a question, the Assistant Director of Children’s Social Care confirmed that there were pressure points within safeguarding services.  This remained a challenge as it was a demand led service and that demand had to be met.  The reasons for the increase in the number of children accessing services remained unclear as the thresholds had not changed.  If demand remained at its current level or increased further the indicator was likely to move to amber.  The Portfolio Holder emphasised that the Council had an ambitious caseload promise which was lower than other London boroughs, there was also a commitment to Newly Qualified Social Workers who carried lower caseloads.

 

The Committee asked that Officers consider the possibility of tracking as a performance measure the levels of complaints that were upheld as these complaints could indicate some form of service issue.

 

RESOLVED: That the report be noted.