Agenda item

Report of the Director of Children and Adults Services

The Director of Children and Adults Services submitted a report (previously circulated) to provide Members with an update on performance against key performance indicators.

The submitted report provided Quarter 4 (January to March) 2019/20 performance information in line with an indicator set agreed by the Monitoring and Co-ordination Group and subsequently by each individual Scrutiny Committee.

The submitted report highlighted where Children and Young People were performing well and where there was a need to improve.  It was also outlined that where indicators are reported annually, quarterly updates will not be available.

It was highlighted that 17.2 per cent of re-referrals were repeated within 12 months, which was better than the target of 18 per cent; 100 per cent of children with a Child Protection Plan and 100 per cent of Children Looked After had been allocated to a qualified social worker; Year to date, 0.6 per cent of children who had their Child Protection Plan (CPP) ceased, had been subject to a CPP for 2 years or more and continues to remain below the target of 5 per cent; 89.0 per cent of statutory looked after children visits had been completed within the timescale and performance against this indicator had continued to improve throughout the year; 73.6 per cent of looked after children aged under 16 (who have been looked after for at least 2.5 years), had been in their current placement continuously for at least two years; 94.3 per cent of looked after children who were due a review health check received them within the required timescale; 90.2 per cent of looked after children who were due a review dental check had received them within the required timescale; and 28.1 per cent of Care Leavers were not in employment, education or training (NEET).

The areas highlighted for focus were in respect of referrals screened and completed within one day which was slightly below the target of 90 per cent at 86.8 per cent; 89.5 per cent of Initial Child Protection Conferences (ICPC) were held within 15 working days from the Strategy meeting being held/Section 47 being initiated; timeliness of assessments was 88.7 per cent, just below target of 90 per cent, however it was highlighted that it was important that social workers have time to undertake good quality direct work and was under constant monitoring; 92.0 per cent of statutory child protection visits had been completed within 15 working days, with 79.6 per cent completed within the internal aspirational target of 10 working days; and the rate of looked after children had increased and was currently 120.1 per 10,000 population (270 children), compared to 117.2 per 10,000 population (264) last year.

Members discussed in particular the looked after children who are transferred into the system from another authority and how they are dealt with; use of the Early Help Service to support families prior to statutory intervention and also the Strengthening Families Programme, which Members requested further information on at a future date.

Members also expressed their concerns at the percentage of Children in Care that had had three or more placements within the previous 12 months and the number of Children in Care refusing dental appointments and health assessments and the possible reasons for this.