Issue - meetings

To receive and consider a report containing the Children’s Services Performance Indicators.

The Committee considered the Children’s Services Performance Indicators report which was set out in Agenda pages 13-18.

Adam Davies, Assistant Director for Children’s Social Care stated that the dashboard on page 17 had been produced in an effort to present more up to date information to the Committee following comments which were made at the previous meeting.

During the discussion of the item the following comments were made:

·           Members were unclear as to what the information in the dashboard meant;

·           Adam Davies stated that the information compared data from the same three month period in 2018;

·           Members were not certain if ‘better than’ or ‘greater than’ meant a good result;

·           Members asked if the increase in the number of Education Health and Care Plan (EHCP) was good or bad and questioned why this indicator was being monitored if its increase or decrease did not reflect the service’s performance;

·           Members agreed that a summary of key performance indicators in the format of a dashboard was a good idea, but the current format was not yet what the Committee was looking for;

·           Members stated that the font size used in the narrative overleaf was too small and not readable, Members asked that the standard 12 point size be used in the future;

·           Members stated that the Committee should be monitoring the key performance indicators that were important for residents and Members;

·           Jim Leivers, Interim Assistant Director for Education stated that there was much information available, the service had tried to pick the most important key performance indicators and condense them into an A4 size, but perhaps it would be better to go back to a format which included more narrative;

·           It was agreed that the format of the report would be reviewed, taking into account the comments made, and tweaked for the next meeting; 

·           Members were interested to know more about the timeliness of return interviews, especially given the fact that it related to a small number of children.  Adam Davies stated that a single officer was now conducting return interviews;

·           Members noted that there seemed to be a reoccurring problem with timeliness of reporting and asked what the difficulties were;

·           Adam Davies stated that part of the challenge was workforce stability.  He informed that a Task and Finish Group had been formed to strengthen recruitment and retention of staff;

·           In response to a question Adam Davies stated that the aspiration was to recruit more permanent staff, he also stated that around 20% of staff were not permanent and this was a national issue.

RESOLVED That:

1)     The Children’s Services Performance Indicators be noted; and

2)     The format of the report will be revised taking into account the comments made above.