Agenda item

Report of the Assistant Director – Commissioning, Performance and Transformation

The Assistant Director Commissioning, Performance and Transformation submitted a report (previously circulated) to update the Scrutiny Committee on the recent review of service assurance in place for Darlington owned Children’s Homes, share the improvement opportunities identified, and the action being taken to strengthen confidence in this area.

The submitted report stated that the review was prompted by an inadequate rating of services at one home last Summer, and that the review highlighted opportunities to improve quality management processes in place to ensure that there is more continuous assurance of service performance to regulatory quality standards.

It was reported that the review did not explore how many homes were currently operating or measure services therefore it was not an assessment of, or intended to infer assessment of service quality or performance in any of Darlington’s homes.

Members entered into discussion on staffing in children’s homes, and the perceived inappropriate content of a newsletter previously circulated.

RESOLVED – That the work completed to review service assurance, and the proposed action plan for improvement, be noted.