Issue - meetings

To receive an update and monitor Children’s Services key performance indicators.

The Children’s Services Performance Indicators report was presented by Nick Hammond, Service Manager Intelligence and Impact.

Members were pleased with the report format and the timeliness of the information provided.

The following comments were made in relation to each dashboard:

Dashboard Item 1 – Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCP)

·           In response to a question Nick Hammond stated that the reason for the decline in the timeliness of EHCPs issued within 20 weeks of referral in Q3 was due to a number of factors, including an increase in complexity of needs which slowed down assessments, and staff changes.  However, this was already improving with 100% completion having been achieved in December and January;

·           In response to a question Sal Thirlway, Assistant Director for Learning and Partnerships stated that the Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) team had been operating with a number of locum staff which had now moved on.  Permanent staff had now been recruited, however the churn of staff had impacted on the timeliness of assessments.

Councillor Blumenthal suggested that a key be added to report to make it clearer if the arrows are being benchmarked in relation to national or local indicators.

Dashboard Item 2 – Early Help

·           Nick Hammond stated that the number of referrals and assessments for Early Help services has significantly increased;

·           Members were interested to know if this increase was occurring as a result of the pandemic;

·           Adam Davis, Assistant Director for Children’s Social Care stated that an increase in referrals had been expected after the summer, but that it had not materialised.  The service was starting to look at themes and how to group it into categories;

·           In response to a question Adam Davis stated that the service was conscious of the impact on staff of the different way of working;

·           Adam Davis stated that the service was currently managing the demand for services, but this was kept under review;

·           Adam Davis stated that given the significant increase in the number of referrals, it was positive that the average length of time between referral and assessment had only gone up only marginally.

Dashboard 3 – Children’s Social Care Front Door

·           Nick Hammond stated that there had been a reduction on the number of referrals in Q3;

·           Members were interested to know how the service would deal with a Child In Care (CIC) who lost a loved one during the pandemic.  Adam Davis stated that this would be dealt with in the same way as with any bereavement involving a CIC;

·           In response to a question Adam Davis stated that measures had been put in place to deal with potential increase in demand; such as providing additional support for front door, by drawing up resources from other areas.  There was capacity within the service;

·           In response to a question Adam Davis stated that it was possible that there were unidentified needs due to the current lack of direct contact with children.

Dashboard Item 4 – Child Protection

·           Nick Hammond stated that there was  ...  view the full minutes text for item 48