Agenda item

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

The Children’s Services Performance Indicators report was presented by Stephen Goss, Intelligence and Impact Performance Leader.

The Committee reviewed each dashboard indicator and some of the comments made during the discussions are listed below.

Dashboard 1 – Education Health and Care Plans (EHCP)

·           Stephen Goss stated that improving the quality and timeliness of EHCP had been a priority for the service for some time.  The improvements shown were the result of concerted efforts to drive improvement;

·           Councillor Loyes was interested to know if there were any figures relating to Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND).  Stephen Goss stated that this could be provided;

·           Councillor Mickleburgh asked if there were plans in place to deal with potential increases in demand.  He was also interested to know what checks were in place to ensure the quality of plans.  Sal Thirlway, Assistant Director for Learning Achievement and Partnerships stated that there was planning for further growth within the medium term financial plan, the service was actively planning to ensure that future capacity would be met.  Sal also stated that there was a range of multi-agency activity, and the service received support from other local authorities to ensure the quality was not being compromised over timeliness;

·           Councillor Croy asked if there had been an impact in staffing during this period, in relation to the pandemic.  Sal Thirlway stated that there had been only one or two staff changes where interim staff had left, at the moment there was a low level of churn.  Sal also stated that the next phase of development would be to recruit staff on a permanent basis;

·           Councillor Richards asked if the improvements were due to having more staff or due to changes in processes.  Sal Thirlway stated that as well as having more staff, there had also been an improvement in partnership working, for example better timeliness from Health professionals;

·           In response to a question Stephen Goss agreed to include targets, where possible, in future reports;

·           Councillor Bray wondered if the service expected an increase in EHCPs now that children were going back to school.  She asked that future reports include the number of EHCPs that had been applied for but not granted.

Dashboard 2 – Early Help

·           Stephen Goss stated that there had been an increase in the number of Early Help assessments in this quarter and an improvement in the length of time in days between referral and assessment completion;

·           In relation to a question about staffing, Sal Thirlway stated that this was stable.  Sal stated that a number of staff that had been isolating were now returning to work, there had been a lot of remote assessments during lockdown;

·           Councillor Croy noted that the fact that staff had been working from home had not impacted the numbers.  Adam Davis, Assistant Director for Children’s Social Care stated that there had been a change in the way the service was delivered, for example with more use of WhatsApp and phone calls; with less time spent travelling staff had had more time to complete assessments;

·           Councillor Mickleburgh asked for an update on the development of the Early Help Strategy and the Task and Finish Group.  Adam Davis stated that the strategy had been going through the usual development stages and was now waiting for the final approval; the Task and Finish Group had been delayed because of Covid-19;

·           Councillor Mickleburgh asked if there was a trend in the types of cases as a result of the pandemic.  Adam Davis stated that the cases were varied and it was difficult to say if they related to the pandemic.

Dashboard 3 – Children’s Social Care Front Door

·           Stephen Goss stated that red arrows were negative, green arrows were positive and black arrows were neutral (outside of the service’s control);

·           Stephen Goss stated that an increase in referrals was expected in Q2 and the service was preparing for it.

Dashboard 4 – Child Protection

·           In response to a question Adam Davis stated that many visits had been undertaken virtually during the lockdown;

·           Members asked Adam Davis to commend the team on the work they had undertaken and the good results achieved;

·           In response to a question Adam Davis stated that the service had undertaken assessments and to determine if it was essential that a visit be carried out face to face and if PPE was required; 56% of child protection visits had been face to face in the period.  He also stated that there had been an increase in contact with Looked After Children (LAC) as a result of the increased use of technology;

·           Councillor Mickleburgh was interested to know more about the narrative behind the measures that had been taken to reduce the need for children to return to a child protection plan.  It was agreed that this would be included in the forward plan;

·           In response to a question from Councillor Richards, Adam Davis stated that unannounced visits were carried out if necessary.

Dashboard 5 – Children In Care

·           Members were pleased to note the decrease in the percentage of children in care who had more than one allocated social worker in 12 months.  Stephen Goss stated that this was a reflection of the improvement in staff permanency;

·           Councillor Mickleburgh asked about the progress in the new Compass Team.  Adam Davis stated that a new manager had started in July, and pointed out that this was still a new team.  Adam Davis offered to bring an update on the progress of the Compass Team to a future meeting;

·           In response to a question Adam Davis stated that recruitment continued to be a challenge, not just for Wokingham but for other local authorities as well, staff had been less keen to move during the pandemic.  He stated that the service was still advertising.

Dashboard 6 – Care Leavers

·           Stephen Goss stated that there had been no changes in the number of care leavers who were ‘in touch’ with the service.  He stated that the increase in the number of (Not in Employment, Education or Training) NEET care leavers was understandable during this current financial situation;

·           Councillor Swaddle asked that, to give Members context, the actual number of care leavers be provided in future reports;

·           Councillor Mickleburgh questioned the accuracy of the 97% of care leavers in suitable accommodation figure and asked Stephen Goss to check it .  He wanted to know what measures were being put in place to reduce NEET figures and wondered if this was related to mental health issues;

·           In response to a question Adam Davis explained that a young person in custody counted as being in unsuitable accommodation; if a young person became remanded in custody, this person automatically became a LAC;

·           Councillor Loyes asked why the numbers of NEET care leavers were comparable to the national average if this was a prosperous borough.  Sal Thirlway stated one of the reasons was that some young people lived out of the borough, also there was a historical low take up of apprenticeships in the borough;

·           Sal Thirlway stated that it was important to have the right mix of opportunities available to young people.  Adam Davis stated that the government had a programme of apprenticeships which was specific for care leavers.

Dashboard 7 – Children missing from Home/Care

·           Councillor Swaddle pointed out that the Committee had asked to be provided with the number of children missing from home and the number of children missing from care in reports.  Stephen Goss agreed to include this figure in future reports;

·           Members were surprised to see the number of children missing from education in Q1, given that schools had been closed in the period.  Sal Thirlway stated that this related to children missing from the school roll and not attending any alternative provision; it was agreed that this explanation would be included in the narrative on future reports;

·           Councillor Richards was interested to know what happened if a child disappeared.  Adam Davis stated that if this was a LAC the local authority would continue to look for the child and the Police would investigate.  Once a child returned from missing, there was return home interview with the child’s dedicated social worker.

Dashboard 8 – Children’s Services Workforce

·           Stephen Goss stated that there was now more stability within the workforce;

·           Councillor Loyes asked what was the percentage of Black Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) LAC in the borough.  Adam Davis agreed to provide this information outside of the meeting;

·           In response to a question Adam Davis stated that there had been an increase in the number of posts following April.  There was now more stability in the senior leadership level within the service.

RESOLVED That the report be noted.