Committee : SOCIAL
SERVICES, HOUSING AND BENEFITS SELECT
COMMITTEE
Date : 4 SEPTEMBER 2002
Title :
CHILDREN’S SERVICE PLANS AND PERFORMANCE INDICATORS
REPORT OF
THE STRATEGIC DIRECTOR OF SOCIAL SERVICES AND HOUSING
SUMMARY / PURPOSE :
This report summarises information
on the 2002/03 Service Plan for Children’s services together with information
and commentary on past performance in 2001/02.
Service Plans have been prepared
to a standard format for all major service areas within the authority. The
Plans contain a range of information including :
Following preparation of a
Corporate Plan (draft approved for consultation at Executive on July 2nd
2002), a revised Service Plan format is to be introduced for the next financial
year – this will ensure that service activities directly link to the approved
corporate goals.
The Council also collects a
diverse range of information regarding service performance through both
national and local Performance Indicators (PIs) which are published each year
in the Best Value Performance Plan (BVPP). In the 2001/02 BVPP, a “traffic light” system has been introduced to
classify PIs by the following categories :
Attached
to this report (Annex 1), members will find summary information for the
following service areas :
·
Children & Families Fieldwork
Services
·
Children & Families Resource
Services
·
Quality Assurance Services
·
Jointly Commissioned Services
The
information provided in Annex 1 includes :
Members should note the following :
Members
are invited to comment upon the Service Plan. Areas for enquiry may include :
Also
attached to this report (Annex 2), are the Performance Indicators for the
Select Committees areas of responsibility. These have been categorised into the
4 “traffic light” groupings described earlier. A fifth category (“unclassified)
has been added to include those PIs where it is not possible to make a
performance judgement.
The
following comments should be noted :
1.
Better than average and
improving
BV51 -
Costs of services to children looked after show some increase in past year,
but expenditure remains low within our
comparator grouping of authorities in the region.
2.
Better than average and
worsening
BV50 –
Educational Qualifications of children looked after (% leaving care with at
least 1 GCSE at grades A-G) – there has been a deterioration in performance
2001/02 from 55% to 41%due to the size of the group, the number of children
with special needs and the number who sat no examinations. There are difficulties across the region
relating to this national target.
Locally, officers are meeting to in September to examine ways of
improving performance. Performance in
2001/02 would place this PI in this grouping rather than (1) above.
3.
Worse than average and
improving
None
4.
Worse than average and
worsening
None
5. Unclassified
BV162 – Reviews of Child
Protection cases is also a national target and we continue to achieve 100%
compliance.
BV61 – Relative spend on
family support (expenditure on children in need, and not looked after, as a
proportion of all expenditure on children’s services)
Expenditure remains low
relative to comparator authorities and has been influenced by budgetary demands
relating to children looked after.
None as
a direct result of this report.
RECOMMENDATIONS That
the Committee : 1.
Consider and comment
upon the Service Plan 2.
Consider and comment
upon the Performance Indicators for the service and identifies priority
areas for improvement
Best Value Performance Plan,
2001/02
Contact point : Jimmy Doyle, Tel 520600
CHARLES WADDICOR
Strategic Director of Social Services and Housing
ANNEX 1 : SERVICE PLAN
Insert copies of Sections 7. 8a, 8b and 11 from Service Plan
4. FINANCIAL RESOURCES
|
SERVICES / FUNCTIONS / ACTIVITIES PROVIDED |
GROSS BUDGET |
INCOME SOURCE ( if any ) |
|||
|
LAST YEAR'S BUDGET ( 2001/02) |
LAST YEAR'S ACTUAL ( 2001/02) |
CURRENT YEAR BUDGET (2002/03) |
IW COUNCIL (amount in current year) |
EXTERNAL (amount in current year) |
|
|
Fieldwork
Services
Duty
& Assessment
Child Care Teams Children’s Disability Children’s Service Centre S17 Support Services Day Care Foster Care Child Protection |
£1,857035 |
£1,826,088 |
£2,033,696 |
N/A |
(£362) |
Resource Services
Independence Support & Care leavers Fostering & Adoption Family Solutions Team Child & Adolescent Mental Health |
£2,149,284 |
£1,913,866 |
£2546223 |
N/A |
(£806788) |
Joint Commissioning
Agency
Placements
Area
Child Protection
Committee Young Carers Respite Care Special
Projects
|
£1,947,487 |
£1,783,651 |
£2060673 |
N/A |
(£382655) |
|
Central
Services
Youth Justice S17 Support Oak House Development Quality Protects Respite Care Provision CIN Census |
£478,016 |
£448,121 |
£928688 |
N/A |
(£333835) |
7. STATEMENT OF PERFORMANCE 1
NUMERIC INDICATORS, TARGETS, STANDARDS AND COMPARISONS
|
PERFORMANCE INDICATOR AND SOURCE |
PERFORMANCE |
BENCHMARKING |
|
|
ACTUAL 01/02 |
ESTIMATE 02/03 |
TARGET (& DATE) |
COMPARATIVE PERFORMANCE (DATE) |
SOURCE OF COMPARISON |
|
PAF
A1 Proportion of children looked after who have three or more placements in a
year |
8.1% |
8% |
Maintain
stability through 2003/04 |
PAF Rating 2000/01 Good * * * * |
DOH
Performance Assessment Framework |
|
PAF A2
Educational qualifications of children looked after |
55% |
58% |
Achieve
60% by 2003/04 |
PAF Rating 2000/01 Good * * * * |
DOH Performance Assessment
Framework |
|
PAF A3
Percentage of children on the child protection register who had previously
been registered |
9.5% |
8% |
Achieve
7% by 2003/04 |
PAF Rating 2001/02 Good * * * * |
DOH Performance Assessment Framework |
|
B7
Percentage of children looked after in foster placements or placed for
adoption |
79% |
80% |
Maintain
at 80%+ though 2003/04 |
PAF Rating 2001/02 Very Good * * * * * |
DOH Performance Assessment
Framework |
|
C20
Percentage of child protection cases which should have been reviewed during
the year, that were reviewed |
100% |
100% |
Maintain
at 100% through 2003/04 |
PAF Rating 2001/02 Very Good * * * * |
DOH Performance Assessment
Framework |
|
C19
Percentage of children looked after who have an annual health assessment |
86.6% |
90% |
Achieve
92.5% by 2003/04 |
PAF Rating 2001/02 Very Good * * * * * |
DOH Performance Assessment
Framework |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
8. STATEMENT OF PERFORMANCE 2
NON NUMERIC PERFORMANCE STANDARDS, SIGNIFICANT ACHIEVEMENTS OR AREAS FOR
IMPROVEMENT
|
During last 12 months |
|
Achievements ·
Produced inter-agency Children’s Service Plan ·
Reviewed long term Child Care Teams ·
Maintained improved performance within Children’s
Services against national Performance Assessment Framework ·
Five child care social work staff achieve the new
Post Qualifying award in Child Care. ·
Completed and submitted the new Quality Protects
Management Action Plan to the DOH ·
Gained Council’s support for a scheme to enhance
foster care remuneration and support packages ·
Completed a joint Best Value Review with the
Education Directorate on Children with Special Needs and Disability ·
Established a multi-agency Teenage Pregnancy
Strategy, Implementation & Review Group for the IOW ·
Established a Child & Adolescent Mental Health
Services Strategy & Review Group ·
Established the Partnership and Steering Groups
necessary to develop the IOW’s Children’s Fund programme ·
Established recruitment and retention task group for
Children’s Services with Elected Member involvement |
Areas
for Improvement
·
Continue to strengthen performance in relation to
PAF indicators ·
Promote a broader understanding/commitment to the
performance culture ·
Underpin financial management by additional
training for front line managers |
|
Over last 1 to 3 years |
|
Achievements
·
Implementation
of Assessment Framework for Children in Need & their families ·
Review
of Duty & Assessment teams within Children’s Services ·
Revision
of Area Child Protection Committee operation and associated procedures ·
Developed/Implemented
action plan following Children’s Services Inspection ·
Completed
Best Value review Out of Hours Services and commenced implementation of
action plan ·
Further
developed joint working and commissioning with partner agencies |
11. SERVICE AIMS, OBJECTIVES, TASKS AND TARGETS
|
SERVICE AIM /OBJECTIVE |
TASKS |
TARGETS AND DATES |
RESPONSIBLE OFFICER |
DIRECTORATE OBJECTIVE TO WHICH THIS TASK CONTRIBUTES |
|
a. Effective discharge of
statutory, protective, regulatory care responsibilities |
To meet targets in Quality Protects Management Action Plan 2002/2003 To strengthen implementation of Assessment Framework for children in
need guidance Complete service review of organisational capacity |
As detailed in MAP By March 2003 May 2002 |
Head of Service Service Manager Head of Service & Service Managers |
Objective 1 Objective 1 Objective 4 |
|
b. Promoting service responsiveness by involving children, young people
and carers |
To achieve robust participation and involvement of children, young
people and their carers in review meetings. (Measure by audit) |
By March 2003 |
Service Manager/ Reviewing Officer |
Objectives 2,5 |
|
c. Working in partnership with Health, Education and other agencies to
promote better outcomes for children in need d. Maintaining investment in staff development and support e. Develop and increase family focused services |
Develop/review and implement the:- ·
The
strategy to reduce the number of children in public care ·
Teenage
Pregnancy Strategy ·
CAMHS
Strategy ·
Children’s
Fund Programme ·
NSF for
Children Review training priorities Provide refresher training as required Maintain participation in post qualifying programmes Action outcomes of Recruitment and Retention Working Group Increase family placement choice |
130 by March 2004 March 2003 May 2002 March 2003 As advised 2002/03 March 2003 June 2002 onwards Reduce number of children in public care to 130 by March 2004 Maintain number of foster carers at April 2002 level |
Head of Service All Managers Head of Service Head of Service |
Objectives 1,2,3 Objectives 3,4 Objective 6 Objectives 3,4 |
ANNEX 2 : PERFORMANCE INDICATORS
PERFORMANCE INDICATORS
On the following pages, are the
full set of Performance Indicators included in the Best Value Performance Plan.
These have been organised into Select Committee area and categorised into one
of 5 groups as requested by Select Committee chairs :
BV 78a HB & CTB
Average time for processing new claims (days).
BV 78b HB & CTB
Average time for processing notifications of changes of circumstance (days).
BV 50 Educational
qualifications of children looked after (The proportion of young people leaving
care aged 16 or over with at least one GCSE at grade A to G or a GNVQ).
BV 51 Costs of
services for children looked after (Gross weekly cost of placement in
residential and family care per child).
BV 55 Clients
receiving a review (Clients receiving a review as a percentage of adult clients
receiving a service).
BV 56 Percentage of
items of Occupational Therapy equipment costing less than £1,000 delivered
within three weeks.
BV 64 The proportion
of private sector dwellings that have been vacant for more than six months as
at 1.4.2000 that are returned into occupation during 2000/01 as a direct result
of action by the local authority.
BV 77 The average
cost of handling a HB or CTB claim, taking into account differences in the
types of claim received.
BV 79a HB & CTB
Percentage of cases for which the calculation of the amount of benefit due was
correct on the basis of the information available for the determination, for a
sample of cases checked post-determination.
BV 49 Stability of
placements of children looked after (percentage looked after with 3 or more
family placements in a year).
BV 52 Cost of
intensive social care for adults (residential nursing and intensive homecare
for all adults).
BV 53 Intensive
homecare per 1,000 population aged 65 or over.
BV 54 Older people
aged 65 or over helped to live at home (People aged 65 or over receiving
community based services per 1000 head of population aged 65 or over).
BV 59 Assessments
per head of population. (The number of assessments of service users aged 65 and
over per head of population aged 65 and over).
BV 67 Proportion of
homelessness applications on which the authority makes a decision and issues
written notification to the applicant within 33 working days.
BV 79b
HB & CTB The percentage of recoverable overpayments (excluding
Council Tax Benefit) that were recovered in the year.
BV 57 Users/carers
who said they got help quickly.
BV 62 The proportion
of unfit private sector dwellings made fit or demolished as a direct result of
action by the local authority.
None
BV 76
Security: Whether the Local
Authority has a written and pro-active strategy for combating fraud and error
which embraces specified initiatives including those sponsored by Department of
Social Security, which is communicated regularly to all staff. (Yes)
BV 78c HB & CTB
Percentage of renewal claims processed on time. (Same as average but worsening)
BV 58 Percentage of
people receiving a statement of their needs and how they will be met.
(percentage of adults receiving a service who have received in the financial
year a statement of what their needs are and how they will be met). (Same as average but improving)
BV 60 Users/carers
who said that matters relating to race, culture or religion were noted. (Worse than average but static)
BV 162 Reviews of
child protection cases. (No comparative
data held centrally but indicator at maximum (100%))
BV
61 Relative spend on family support
(expenditure on children in need, and not looked after, as a proportion of all
expenditure on children’s services)
(Better than average and static)