Agenda item

To consider and scrutinise the Self-Assessment of BCP’s Children’s Services baseline performance.

The Service Director, Community Learning and Commissioning, advised that, in line with best practice expectations, BCP Council had produced an updated Quarter 2 Self Assessment of its current performance in delivering Children’s Services.  This would guide and inform service and practice improvement activity.

The Service Director provided a brief overview of the headlines highlighting areas of strength, as well as planned key areas which required focused development and improvement.

The Committee discussed the Report and comments were made as follows:

• In response to a query regarding the 47 children in care identified as being at risk, the Committee was advised that regular reporting took place.  Meetings were held which considered higher risk young people and ensured clear individual action plans were implemented.  The Signs of Safety approach was being used by Children’s Services who worked with partner agencies for early intervention in order to reduce and prevent child exploitation
• In response to a query about the return to home interviews for children who had been missing being low at 52% in 3 days, the Committee was advised that Children’s Services were aware significant improvement was required and policies and protocols had recently been reviewed to improve in this area.
• The Corporate Director advised that a virtual school had been introduced to deal with the most vulnerable children.  It was hoped this would provide more positive educational outcomes for the children in care who were currently not on roll.  The Committee was reassured that any opportunity to get those children back in to full time education was being explored
• It was clarified that at Appendix A: Permanence Scorecard, the reason for the not applicable (n/a) insertions was it was a set of indicators to manage and monitor performance and sometimes figures were not available as a comparator or the target was not appropriate to be ‘RAG’ (Red, Amber, Green) rated
• The Committee was advised that prioritising in Children’s Services was a difficult challenge as not every indicator could be given priority, however it was important to check that the priorities being focused on were the right ones.  It was highlighted that managing the change for staff and service users was a priority together with the following areas:  MASH, adolescents, assessments and robustness of plans.
• Regarding the reorganisation, the Committee was reassured that every effort was made to ensure consistency of social worker relationships with users and changes to this would only have been made if a social worker moved into a different area within the service
• Clarity was given over the assessed and supported year in employment (ASYE) and the average number of social workers a child would have contact with in the service
• The Committee was advised that the Early Help workforce were continuing to work through a significant period of change
• In response to a query regarding the Amber ratings on the Children’s Services Development Improvement Plan (DIP) 2019/2020, the Committee was advised that they meant improvement was still ongoing and necessary.  The Service Director then explained each of the 3 amber ratings in more detail and the work that was being undertaken to progress them to Green ratings.
• When considering priorities, the Corporate Director reassured the Committee that no one cohort was considered less important however they needed to be based on whether a child was at risk, ensuring statutory duties were fulfilled and meeting the needs of all the users.  In order to achieve this, the need for a strategic lead and overview was required
• The Committee was advised of the importance of developing early response and intervention for any family or child in need to ensure the child was safe in its home, school and community and that BCP Council was engaging with schools to enable a positive and proactive relationship
• In response to a statement in the Self Assessment which said that ‘the BCP educational outcomes were some of the highest nationally’, the Committee was advised that fuller details of the outcomes would be brought before the Committee at its next meeting.  It was requested that the national and BCP figures be circulated to the Committee for consideration
• It was clarified that the Early Help Decision maker and Case Progression Manager posts were created to ensure the early help system was connected and meaningful and with regards to decision making, swift action without bureaucracy ensured efficient and effective working
• In response to a query regarding the percentages detailed throughout the Self Assessment, the following was clarified:

-       The different percentages relating to staff vacancies was as a result of breaking down the figures in three different ways: true vacancies, those covered by agency staff and vacancies which were currently not filled

-       Clarification over the figures relating to Care Experienced Young People was provided with concern shown regarding the percentage of 17-21 year olds who were not in employment, education or training (NEET).  The Corporate Director advised that some of the young people who were classed as NEET was because they were currently sectioned, in prison or in a young person’s institution. 

-       Considering the Youth Justice System, it was highlighted that Bournemouth and Poole’s figures were higher than the regional and national averages with regards to first time entrants into the system and the rate of reoffending.  The Corporate Director advised that she was a new member of the Pan Dorset Youth Offending Services Board where the same concern had been highlighted and new schemes and initiatives were in place for early help with partner agencies, which it was hoped would address this.  Further information at a future meeting date was offered relating to this

• The Corporate Director advised of the ‘no wrong door’ approach which was a series of early intervention, multi agency approaches which monitored and supported the most vulnerable children and young people within the community
• In response to a query regarding the KS1 results, the Committee was advised that due to the small number of children involved, it doesn’t take much to impact on the results for example, having a higher proportion of boys within the year group could lead to lower attainment levels
• It was noted that there was no requirement for national benchmarking data for KS3 although schools still considered data internally
• The Chair highlighted the terminology in the report of care leavers needed to be changed to young people with care experience
• One of the young people in attendance concluded by stating that early intervention was crucial to help provide better outcomes for children and young people.

RECOMMENDED that having scrutinised the BCP Children’s Services Self-Assessment with associated development and improvement plan, the Committee’s comments be noted.